The Inner Construction of Objects and Space Hildebrand's Problem der Form

• Published in: The Meaning of Modern Architecture pp. 61 - 64
• Main Author: Morgenthaler, Hans Rudolf
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Routledge 2015; Taylor & Francis Group
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Art styles: c 1960; History of architecture; Psychological theory & schools of thought; Theory of architecture; Theory of art; Das Problem Der Form; Near Vision; Julius Posener; Balcony; Wölin; Empathic Interpretation; Deutsche Bauzeitung; Schminke House; Exterior Doors; Viennese; 18th Century Architect; Rembrandt's Night Watch; Tugendhat House; Wittgenstein House; Follow; Dutch Group Portrait; Paul Westheim; Exterior Lead; Fischer Von Erlach; Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye; Barcelona Pavilion; Actual Eye Movements; Van Der Rohe's Buildings
• ISBN: 9781138572348; 9781472453013; 1138572349; 1472453018
• DOI: 10.4324/9781315555669-5

Adolf von Hildebrand (1847-1921) was a sculptor and, with respect to the present investigation, interested in how human beings perceive the spatial reality of objects. He introduced the term "architectonic" into perception, through which he denoted the construction of a total form. Through this he explained how the depiction of nature transcended from pure imitation to true art. Fundamental to his theory is the concept that a painting has two existences, the first one as an object depicting something physical, the second as depicting something else. No doubt, the latter refers to meaning or symbolism. A work of art "can open for sight another space filled with objects, which are absent in reality in front of the spectator." 1 Hildebrand established the code that is needed to transform the painting into a graphic composition that can communicate with, and be analyzed by, the human mind. Tchertov calls them "perceptograms." These do not directly signify what they depict, they are in a sense grammatical signs, not lexical ones. This concept appears to me to be a good explanation of what happens in empathic interpretation, although Tchertov's examples of its use in art are not convincing. 2 For Hildebrand, works of art are totalities of effects.