DOI Artikel:
Lasser, Moritz Otto von: A German architect: Prof. Emanuel Seidl
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20712#0031
A German A rchitect
DOOR EMANUEL SEIDL, ARCHITECT
German domestic architecture was until recent
years in a very sorry state indeed, and still con-
tinues to be far from satisfactory, considered gener-
ally. The characteristics of a period which de-
lighted in formalities, theatrical display, loudness,
and luxury are still far too much in evidence.
There are signs, however, that a better state of
things has dawned. Under the stress of the
modern conditions of life, of which the immense
expansion of the large towns is a striking feature,
the question of country house architecture has
become a burning one. The wide cultiva-
tion of landscape painting among the rising
generation of Germans has done much towards dis-
seminating artistic ideas among the general public,
and the truth is beginning to be recognised that
harmony and not discord should exist between
a habitation and its surroundings, between the
industrial pursuits of man and his natural environ-
ment. There is yet a vast amount of ugliness to
be got rid of; falsity of every kind thrusts itself
upon us, and never so much as when we are in the
presence of the awful grandeur of the heavens or
of terrestrial beauty as seen in wood and meadow
—in short, wherever we are in presence of those
sublime harmonies which nature discloses.
Emanuel Seidl anyhow recognised how great
was the problem to be solved, and is conscious of
the imperfect solution so far reached. In devoting
himself to this class of architecture he took a path
peculiar to himself, and, as already said, his influ-
ence has been far-reaching. It could hardly be
otherwise with an artist endowed with a fund of
energy, intelligently applied, enthusiasm for his
work, critical judgment, courage and self-reliance,
such as Seidl possesses.
FRONT DOOR EMANUEL SEIDL, ARCHITECT
13
DOOR EMANUEL SEIDL, ARCHITECT
German domestic architecture was until recent
years in a very sorry state indeed, and still con-
tinues to be far from satisfactory, considered gener-
ally. The characteristics of a period which de-
lighted in formalities, theatrical display, loudness,
and luxury are still far too much in evidence.
There are signs, however, that a better state of
things has dawned. Under the stress of the
modern conditions of life, of which the immense
expansion of the large towns is a striking feature,
the question of country house architecture has
become a burning one. The wide cultiva-
tion of landscape painting among the rising
generation of Germans has done much towards dis-
seminating artistic ideas among the general public,
and the truth is beginning to be recognised that
harmony and not discord should exist between
a habitation and its surroundings, between the
industrial pursuits of man and his natural environ-
ment. There is yet a vast amount of ugliness to
be got rid of; falsity of every kind thrusts itself
upon us, and never so much as when we are in the
presence of the awful grandeur of the heavens or
of terrestrial beauty as seen in wood and meadow
—in short, wherever we are in presence of those
sublime harmonies which nature discloses.
Emanuel Seidl anyhow recognised how great
was the problem to be solved, and is conscious of
the imperfect solution so far reached. In devoting
himself to this class of architecture he took a path
peculiar to himself, and, as already said, his influ-
ence has been far-reaching. It could hardly be
otherwise with an artist endowed with a fund of
energy, intelligently applied, enthusiasm for his
work, critical judgment, courage and self-reliance,
such as Seidl possesses.
FRONT DOOR EMANUEL SEIDL, ARCHITECT
13