Joseph Furttenbach the Edler “Architectura civilis”
“Architectura civilis” in English: Civil architecture. The book is a work of architectural theory. Fruttenbach reports on the “noble” art of architecture. Theoretical aspects are given for the construction of palaces and their surroundings, common dwellings, churches, chapels, altars, houses of God and buildings such as military hospitals and hospitals.
The work contains 78 pages – included are: title page, address to the reader, table of contents and the three parts of the book.
A total of 40 copperplate engravings are included. They mainly show the exterior facades of buildings with the corresponding floor plans. There are also illustrations of cityscapes. The third part contains only illustrations of plants. What is striking throughout the book is that most of the illustrations are on fold-out double pages.
The book is more on the normal-sized side, as it is a very medium format and has a medium thickness. I think this format was enough to get to the point of the content and still has enough space for many illustrations.
Jospeh Fruttenbach was born in Leutkirch in 1591. He completed his training as a merchant in Italy. He also became increasingly involved in other arts and even came into contact with Galileo Galilei. In a later stage of his life he returned to Germany, where he married and ran a trading house. In a following period he was in the administration of the building office in Ulm, where he designed several buildings. These were mainly concepts for communal buildings. Some of his concepts were realised. He recorded many of these concepts and theories in writing – the works are still important to this day. Fruttenbach gave birth to a son of the same name, which gave him the name “Jospeh Fruttenbach the elder”. Fruttenbach died in Ulm in 1667.
Student: 20-940-417