This thesis intends to explore the relationship between the Neoplatonist doctrines of the Renaissance philosopher, Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), and astrological images in the Renaissance. The astrological ceiling fresco located in the Room of Maps in the Villa Farnese at Caprarola is in the center of the argument, which I analyze based on the metaphysical works of Ficino, the Platonic Theology (1482) and the Three Books on Life (1492). Authors have examined the fresco decoration and Ficinian philosophy individually, but never together. This study is the first to recognize Ficino's influence on Renaissance astrological images in its entirety.The present work synthesizes scholarship on Ficino and astrological image interpretations and provides a Neoplatonic reading of the fresco in question. The results demonstrate that the ceiling fresco at Caprarola is a visual manifestation of the principal Ficinian doctrines. The predominant decorative figures (Phaeton, Argo, Capella, and Jupiter) located at the four corners of the ceiling, communicate the importance of contemplation and introspection, the proper management of one's vices and virtues, and the immortality of the soul. Together, they comprise the microcosm of the patron, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (1520-1589). The decoration provides an insight into the inner world of Cardinal Farnese and represents his dominant personality traits. In the end, he triumphs over his sins, and his good deeds enable his soul to ascend to the divine sphere. The current study opens the door to conducting psychoanalyses of other historical figures, who were major patrons of the art and involved with Ficino’s philosophy.

The Inner Landscape A matrix of cognitive and environmental structures A geometric interface of mind and nature A gallery in the wood / Master of Architecture

This thesis explores the possible resolution of colliding autonomous architectural entities. The manifestation of this resolution occurs in the design of an art museum that utilizes the memory of the Victorian national spirit. The realization of this program underlies the author's continued pursuit to define the entities of boundary and threshold. This entire enquiry is presented through the utilization of photographs, drawings, and supporting text. / Master of Architecture

No description available.

Doctorat en sciences appliquées / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

While documentation of the work of a select group of modernist landscape architects of the mid-twentieth century is available, little is known about the professional contributions of transitional landscape architects active in the period following World War II. Using selected projects framed by existing literature covering contemporary social, economic, political, and artistic influences, this study examines the career of one such transitional figure, Sidney Nichols Shurcliff (1906-1981). Project descriptions and analysis measure the scope of Shurcliff's work and the degree to which he contributed to the discipline and its transition to modernism, thereby augmenting the history of landscape architecture practice.

Urbanization and development of cities is necessary in contemporary society, however, these advancements are also causing urban problems, such as lack of open green space, density problems, traffic problems, and over population.Also, existing buildings are often lacking certain functions that are currently needed since they have been designed in the past. Thus, plaza and mixed used buildings, which are considered as a unit space, are needed to mention for 'publicity' that is a part of urban components as a wide spatial concept. In particular, mixed used buildings as multiply functioned facilities are needed a specific study for 'publicity' and 'urban plaza'. In general, the meaning of 'publicity' in a city seems to have started from 'agora', which is from ancient Greek. A plaza as an open space in a city was realized as a solution, which people have pursued in order to improve their psychological safety and deterioration of the physical environment. Furthermore, it was made by necessity that was able to gather people in a place and was an indicator space with culture, political, and social activity. Procuring a traffic space, which is increasing more in a city, is expressed based on declining plaza and maximizing land use, on the other hands, it indicatesthe importance of a way to vitalize social public space in urban life. In addition, urban and social modernization has caused proliferation and concentration of urban services and,as a result of it,it has caused population increase and architectural densification. In brief, open spaces and streets for pedestrians have decreased. Expansion of buildings, reduction of streets, and degeneration of urban plazas have started to diminish the space for public activity. This has connected to fall quality of its macro- environment and consciousness of sharing, and thus the quality of the city has fallen as a result. The urban plaza is an important component of urban open space and the space, which can improve social community. Thus, the objective of this study is to reconsider the concept 'publicity' in cities as a strategic space in order to vitalize the city. The study includes analyzing connectivity between urban plaza and architectural space and proposing design methods for a mixed use building which will improve interaction between urban context and the buildings., In conclusion, the study will be used to suggest a new solution for the urban design, which has had less connectivity by transportation and thoughtless development for the environment, in order to produce pleasant open space to enjoy public life for citizen focused on increasing practical use between people and their city's infrastructure with diverse function and psychological stability.

My dissertation inserts the incorruptible body into the discussion of image devotion and relic veneration that followed the Council of Trent’s (1545-1563) decrees concerning the use of images, which affirmed Thomas Aquinas’s position that worship is passed from representation to archetype. This is addressed in terms of the image and the relic within the same sacred space, primarily in the context of the chapels of S. Caterina de’ Vigri (1413-1463; canonized 1712) in Bologna and S. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi (1566-1607; canonized 1669) in Florence, where there were not only man-made representations of the saint, but also the whole and entire body of the saint herself. Bringing together an array of visual and textual materials including such objects as the presentation of the preserved body, hagiographies, altarpieces, votive images, and popular prints, I analyze the powerful physical presence (praesentia) of the incorruptible body in relation to the saint’s somatic miracles, the visual commemoration of those miracles at the shrine, and the ultimate transportation of this means of access to the divine when portable images moved away from the body. I analyze how and to what extent the presence of the saint was asserted through the intact corpse and through images of the relic body. By focusing on both the presentation of the incorruptible corpse itself and the visual and written representation of the female relic body in a variety of media, this study will analyze the reception of the powerful physical presence of the holy incorruptible body and its representations. I argue that praesentia is signified not only through the display of the relic body, but also through a synthesized emphasis on the incorruptible corpse as prototype, relic, and image.

This dissertation examines a series of nine paintings depicting the battles of Alexander Farnese in Flanders created by the Cuzco School of Painters in eighteenth-century Peru. This research asks why and how paintings depicting sixteenth-century European battles were meaningful in the eighteenth century. Due to an absence of archival documentation on the authorship, production and patronage of the series, the research method is contextual. Starting with a formal and iconographic analysis of the paintings centered on a comparison between the paintings and the engravings upon which they are based, differences in the use of space and the conspicuousness of individual elements representing opposing forces are studied. These issues are then regarded contextually by way of an examination of the visual characteristics of the Cuzco School, the history behind the creation of the original engravings and the political and social circumstances extant at the time of the creation of the paintings. Building on previous scholarship, this research shows that attribution to the Cuzco School of painters is likely correct given the formal qualities of the paintings. It is possible that the stylistic characteristics of the Cuzco School, which became very popular, served as a marker of place within the Empire in colonial America. One of the main contributions of the dissertation is the identification of a seventeenth-century biography of Alexander Farnese, De Bello Bélgico as the book in which the engravings that served as the sources for the paintings were published. These engravings served as the basis for all of the depictions of Alexander in colonial Latin America. Finally, the paintings were created during the reign of the first Bourbon king of Spain and served to foster a sense of continuity at a time of transition. The series would have been meaningful in eighteenth- century Chile due to its militarization, which continued throughout the colonial period. The use of space and the clarity with which opposing forces are depicted in the paintings left no moral, military or political ambiguities regarding the mission of the greater Spanish Empire.

Artist Statement I have always found comfort and warmth in my family. When I am not with them, I find myself clinging to the objects they leave behind as a substitute in their absence. As I began to re-create these objects through paintings and ceramics, I realized that I was creating symbolic portraits of my family. These portraits are tangible family moments preserved in pigment and clay. In recent years, my siblings were deployed to war and I began to represent them as various instruments. These instruments, both musical and tools of war, chronicle who they were and who they are now. Where I once presented guitars and violins, now I include rifles and bombs. In my painting process, I use subtle lighting techniques to reveal objects hidden in the shadows. What little light is present reveals a trigger on a rifle or a string on a violin. I want the viewer to consider firing a shot or striking a chord. My ceramic sculptures also take on both attributes of weaponry and music. I sculpt in porcelain and all the pieces are given the resonating chamber (f-holes) of a violin. Although the pieces resemble bombs and grenades, the hollow white porcelain contrasts the destructive purpose of a weapon to beautiful forms that may be capable of producing a tune. These pieces mirror how I see my siblings, as once beautiful souls that are now used as instruments of war.