McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par Ž

The present study explores the relationship between language and architecture as symbolic systems against the background of the creation of independent Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I. It takes as its focus the Prague Castle, and the intent of the first President of Czechoslovakia, philosopher Thomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850--1937), to "democratize" the vast complex of historic structures that formed it, with the help of the Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik (1872--1957). To effect change in the charged, historically circumscribed spaces of the Castle can be viewed as a language analogy mainly in the terms of creating new relationships . …  Lire la suite

The sources of the theories underlying Czech Cubist architecture before World War I have been only sketchily studied to date. To analyze these theories and identify their sources, I focus on the work of architect and theorist Pavel Janak (1882-1956), an early proponent of Cubist architecture in Bohemia. The thesis incorporates my translation of Janak's unpublished journal for 1911-1914, the dominant years of Czech Cubism. Through this journal and Janak's published writings, together with an examination of his own readings, I trace the development of his theories, and situate his sources, within their historical context. Janak was no mere imitator …  Lire la suite