Table Of ContentThe ArchiTecTure of Luxury
Ashgate Studies in Architecture Series
series editor: eamonn canniffe, manchester school of architecture,
manchester metropolitan university, uk
The discipline of Architecture is undergoing subtle transformation as design
awareness permeates our visually dominated culture. Technological change, the
search for sustainability and debates around the value of place and meaning
of the architectural gesture are aspects which will affect the cities we inhabit.
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through the publication of high quality original research, written and visual.
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The Architecture of Luxury
Annette condello
Curtin University, Australia
© Annette condello 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Annette condello has asserted her right under the copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing company
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union road Suite 3-1
farnham Burlington, VT 05401-3818
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
condello, Annette.
The architecture of luxury / by Annette condello.
pages cm. -- (Ashgate studies in architecture)
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBN 978-1-4094-3321-7 (hardback: alk. paper) -- iSBN 978-1-4724-3422-7 (ebook) --
iSBN 978-1-4724-3423-4 (epub)
1. Architecture--human factors. 2. Architecture and society. 3. Luxury. i. Title.
NA2542.4.c655 2014
720.1’08--dc23
2013044884
iSBN 9781409433217 (hbk)
iSBN 9781472434227 (ebk – PDf)
iSBN 9781472434234 (ebk– ePuB)
V
Contents
List of Figures vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
1 Sybaris as a Marker of Luxury 13
2 Lucullan Luxury 35
3 Architectural Excess 51
4 Luxurious Spaces and the Rustic 65
5 NeoEuropean Luxury 91
6 The Dispersal of Modern Luxury 115
Epilogue 145
Bibliography 151
Index 167
This page has been left blank intentionally
List of Figures
I.1 C.K.G. Billings’ horseback dinner at New York Hotel, 1903. © The
Art Archive/Museum of the City of New York/Byron Company
Collection 2
1.1 Sybaris, 2000. © Used by permission of Mimmo Jodice 12
1.2 Stone mosaic of the excavated bathhouse, Sybaris. Photo:
A. Condello, 2005 15
1.3 Remnant of the ‘Sofa’ capital from a house in ancient Sybaris.
Photo: C. Vernon, 2005 16
1.4 Fountains and water-staircases at the Royal Palace of Caserta, near
Naples, 1777. © The Foundation for Landscape Studies 24
2.1 Francesco Villamena, axonometric view of the Villa of Lucullus
showing a pool attached to the left side of the building with
views out to the Isle of Procida, Bay of Naples, ca. 1700.
© Bibliotheca Herztiana 37
2.2 William Leighton Leitch, Villa of Lucullus at Misenum, Bay of Naples.
© Trustees of the British Museum 39
2.3 Frescoes in Nero’s Palace, Rome, ca. 1860–1890. Source: Library
of Congress 41
2.4 Colonnade and canal at Villa Adriana, AD 118–34. Photo by
Susanne Meurer, used with permission 42
3.1 Leon Battista Alberti, Santa Maria Novella ‘tapestry’ of marble,
Florence. Source: Wikimedia Commons 52
3.2 Heavily ornamented façade of Ca’ Dario with its inlaid marble
patterns, Venice. Source: Wikimedia Commons 55
3.3 Francois de Nome, A Fantastic Architectural View. Source: Wikimedia
Commons 61
4.1 Androuet du Cerceau, plan of the Fontainebleau Palace with the
Grotto des Pins in the far left corner of the rectilinear gallery,
France. © Trustees of the British Museum 68
4.2 Sebastiano Serlio’s rusticated loggia of the Grotto des Pins, 1526.
© The Art Archive 68
viii THe ARCHITeCTURe oF LUxURY
4.3 Androuet du Cerceau, view of the Grand Staircase at Fontainebleau
Palace’s White Horse Courtyard, 1526. © The Art Archive 71
4.4 Jules Hardouin-Mansart, front view of the Grand Stables, 1526,
Versailles. © The Art Archive 72
4.5 Le Desert de Retz, France, 1988. De Monville’s Broken Column
House as an ‘architectural’ hors d’œuvre. © Michael Kenna 79
4.6 Richard Mique, Queen Marie-Antoinette’s ‘rustic’ Hamlet at Trianon
Gardens. Photo: C. Vernon, 2006 81
5.1 Diego Rivera, detail of one of the causeways in the panorama of
The Great City of Tenochtitlan, 1925–1935. Tenochtitlan was
erased like ancient Sybaris. Mural photo by Luis e. Carranza, used
with permission 95
5.2 Representation of Vrijburg Palace and gardens in Maurits, Brazil.
© Rijkmuseum 97
5.3 Amazonas Theatre and the San Sebastiano Square with its flowing
curve paving, representing the Negro and Amazon Rivers in Manaus,
Brazil. Photo: A. Condello, 2006 101
5.4 A ‘neoeuropean’ interior, a fresco showing the underside of the eiffel
Tower in the dome of the Amazonas Theatre. Photo © David Leventi,
http://www.davidleventi.com 102
5.5 Adamo Boari, the Carrara marble façade of the Palace of Fine Arts
(Mexico’s National Theatre), Mexico City. Photo: A. Condello, 2004 106
6.1 View of a typical Riverside house, near Chicago. Photo:
A. Condello, 2012 118
6.2 Part of a mural of dancing Native Americans near Lake Michigan in
the Fortnightly Club, Chicago. Photo: A. Condello, 2012 122
6.3 View of the Pompeiian-styled ceiling in the Palmer House Hotel from
the escalator, painted by French artist Louis Pierre Rigal. Photo:
A. Condello, 2012 123
6.4 Louis Sullivan’s Auditorium Building complex including the
Auditorium Hotel, 1899–1890. Photo: A. Condello, 2012 125
6.5 Detail of the reception area with its various european and Mexican
material finishes in Louis Sullivan’s Auditorium Hotel lobby. Photo:
A. Condello, 2012 126
6.6 Louis Sullivan’s Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Department Store,
1898–1904. Photo: A. Condello, 2012 129
6.7 Detail of the cast iron ornament, Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company
Department Store, 1898–1904. Photo: A. Condello, 2012 129
6.8 Adamo Boari, document drawings of the 10-storey Luxfer Prism
Tower. Source: The Inland architect and news record, 1898 134
6.9 Adolf Loos’ drawing of the Chicago Tribune Tower, 1922. Source:
Library of Congress 135
6.10 Michigan Avenue today. Photo: A. Condello, 2012 138
e.1 Rem Koolhaas, Casa da Musica, Porto, Portugal. Photo: A. Condello,
2011 146
e.2 Demolition of Daslu Department Store, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo:
A. Condello, 2013 147
Preface
This book offers an architectural interpretation of luxury. Concentrating on the
architectural venues for pleasure, it traces the myths and application of luxury
within architecture, interiors and designed landscapes. The basis of the book is a
set of six historical categories of luxury – sybaritic, Lucullan, architectural excess,
rustic, neoEuropean and modern – all related to the built and unbuilt environment.
Each theme is defined in the context of luxury and takes into consideration
different cultural contexts and historical periods. ‘Architectural’ luxury is either an
unqualified benefit or something present within strict limits. The book identifies
areas where representations of luxury were realized or vanished, in Italy – Sybaris,
the Bay of Naples, Rome, Florence and Venice. It argues how the ideas of permissible
and impermissible luxury have informed architecture and how they change from
one context to another.
Myths about ancient Sybaris entered the realm of architectural history as a
story of the origins of luxury and its use was subsequently criticised in a range
of architectural venues not only in Italy but also elsewhere. Rustic Italianate forms
emerged in the Ancién Regime through the works of Sebastiano Serlio at
Fontainebleau and then as broken or rickety forms at Chambourcy and Trianon
Gardens. Europeanized luxury transformed Latin American architecture in Manaus,
Recife and Mexico City. And in the United States, suburban Riverside’s and Chicago’s
luxurious architecture became more modern because the cities were inspired
by sybaritic myths. In all of these contexts the book distinguishes the relations
between specific notions of luxury and the practice of architecture. Providing
voluptuous settings for the nobles and the leisure class, luxury took the form of
not only grand palaces, but also follies, country and suburban houses, private or
public entertainment venues and ornate skyscrapers with fast lifts. This resulted in
a continuous prompt to indulge still further in luxury.
Annette Condello
