Special exhibition "Architectura navalis – Floating Baroque" at Deutsches Technik Museum in Berlin - 11 October 2018 to 13 October 2019

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Special exhibition

"Architectura navalis – Floating Baroque"

at Deutsches Technik Museum in Berlin

11 October 2018 to 13 October 2019

from the web-page of the museum:
https://sdtb.de/museum-of-technology/exhibitions/architectura-navalis/

What do the tall ships of the Baroque era (ca. 1575-1770) have in common with the palaces of Louis XIV?
The exhibition introduces visitors to the expressiveness and majestic forms of Baroque art, and provides surprising answers to this perhaps unusual question.
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The ALEXANDER NEVSKY: This model of a 74-cannon Russian ship of the line, launched in 1787, shows a variant in the development of architectural stern design. © SDTB / photo C. Kirchner
It shows the mutual influence between royal ship design and monumental architecture, and how this development helped generate the central motifs of Late Baroque art, known as Rococo.
At the center of it all is the evolution of the ship’s stern, especially in Baroque France. Shipbuilding there was marked by strict organizational structures, highly qualified artists and scientists, and close personal links to the world of palace architecture. For precisely these reasons – thus the hypothesis of the exhibition – the origin of Rococo can be traced to French shipbuilding of the time.

Architecture as a Means of Portraying Sovereign Power
It was above all absolute rulers like the "Sun King," Louis XIV, and his successor Louis XV who invested major resources in the portrayal of royal authority.
This effort was not limited to monumental buildings on land. Three-masted sailing ships, whose stern area could be seen far and wide, were also designed to look like palaces. In the process the stern was transformed from a purely functionally, partially decorated part of the ship into a veritable building facade.


Interactive presentation
to compare architectural features on land and at sea © SDTB / natani

This architectural method of constructing ships – called architectura navalis, or "naval architecture" – began a new chapter in the history of navigation. Ships exhibited typical elements of Baroque architecture familiar from chateaus and palaces: division into three levels, ceremonial balconies and doors, cornices, pediments, portrait medallions as well as risalits, squinches, pedestals, and hood moulds. Our interactive presentationillustrates this transfer.

Transfer from Land to Sea, and Back Again
Over a series of creative steps, the architectural components and design principles of monumental facades on land were adapted to fit the complex form of the ship’s hull. Decorative elements, such as the shell ornamentation long found on ships, were also incorporated into this process and transformed in a special way.

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The SOLEIL ROYAL, launched around 1690, was one of the most magnificent ships of the line built during the reign of the "Sun King," Louis XIV. The stern exhibits elements typical of Baroque architecture. © SDTB / photo C. Kirchner

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LE VENGEUR: Construction model built around 1765 to a scale of 1:48. To achieve the impression of a unified architectural design, the quarter galleries are extended and harmoniously follow the line of the transom. © Musée national de la Marine, Paris

The process of design transfer did not go in merely one direction. After land-based architecture was adapted to ships, the Rococo period witnessed a formal retranslation from sea back to land. The asymmetries, spatial divisions, and contours of ship architecture – especially with the motif of the scalloped shell edge – were incorporated into the interior design of monumental buildings.

Magnificent Model Ships, Giant Clam Shells, and Design Drawings

Exquisite model ships, art objects, design drawings, and architectural fragments are displayed over 250 square meters of exhibition space.
Highlights include an eighteenth-century construction model of a ship with the ribs exposed, a giant clam shell with a diameter of ca. 100 cm, and reproductions of stunning plans sketched by the leading ship designers – Jean Bérain (1640-1711) and François-Antoine Vassé (1681-1736) – on whose basis real ships were built.
Research and planning for the exhibition were carried out in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University.

Companion volume
A companion volume to the exhibition, "Floating Baroque: The Ship as Monumental Architecture"
is available from be.bra Verlag.
(ISBN 978-3-89809-154-1 english / ISBN 978-3-89809-153-4 german, 160 pages,
150 color images, softcover with flaps, including a pop-up model ship, 24 Euro)



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LE FOUDROYANT ("the lightning-hurler"): Plan of the stern facade, quarter gallery, and bow, François-Antoine Vassé, 1723. The iconographic program alludes to attributes of the king. © Service historique de la Défense, Vincennes / copy
Header image:
Grafik: Pen-and-ink-drawing of a three-masted ship with billowing sails, partially covered with blue ink blots. © BNF / image; Schiel-Projekt GmbH


Try this out:
https://sdtb.de/fileadmin/user_uplo...en/2018_10_Architectura_Navalis/IA/ia.php?L=2
 
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