International Conference: Semper in Italy

Date: 

Thursday, October 1, 2026 (All day) to Friday, October 2, 2026 (All day)

Location: 

I Tatti (with live Zoom access)
Gottfried Semper, Der Stil, vol. II, details of the roof of San Miniato al Monte, Florence, 1863

An International Conference Organized by Mari Hvattum, Alina Payne & Caroline Van Eck

The German architect Gottfried Semper (1803–1879) spent formative periods in Italy, even once defining himself as the true successor to Bramante and Michelangelo. Italy was the place where Semper would encounter Graeco-Roman architecture first-hand, and his 1831 visit to Sicily was a major impetus for his theory of polychromy in architecture. At the end of his life, Semper returned to the country, spending extensive periods in Venice, Florence and Rome. To Semper, Italy was not only a historical precedent but a living place emerging around him, fueling his ideas on materiality, ornament, and style. This two-day conference explores Semper’s Italy; his engagement with Roman antiquity and the Italian Renaissance, and his activities and intellectual networks in Italy.

List of participants:

Andreas Beyer (University of Basel)
Maurizio Ghelardi (Scuola Normale Superiore)
Sonja Hildebrand (Università della Svizzera Italiana)
Mari Hvattum (The Oslo School of Architecture and Design)
Isabelle Kalinowski (CNRS Paris)
Steven Lauritano (Leiden University)
Suzanne Marchand (Louisiana State University)
Alina Payne (I Tatti / Harvard University)
Estelle Thibault (École nationale supérieure d'architecture Paris-Belleville)
Caroline van Eck (Cambridge University)
Tommaso Zerbi (German Historical Institute in Rome)

 

Image: Gottfried Semper, Der Stil, vol. II, details of the roof of San Miniato al Monte, Florence, 1863

 

 

Speakers:

Jacopo Baron
Yve-Alain Bois
Lina Bolzoni
Samir Boumediene
Chiara Cappelletto
Tom Cummins
Paul Davis
Nicolas Dietrich
Carlos Fausto
Cécile Fromont
Joseph Koerner
Els Lagrou
Pedro Memelsdorff
Alina Payne
Alessandra Russo
Avinoam Shalem
Carlo Severi
Thiago Sapede
Matthew Spellberg
Caroline Van Eck
Gerhard Wolf
Christopher S. Wood

Program to follow

Image: Albrecht Dürer, Wing of a European Roller, c. 1500. Albertina Museum, Vienna.

 

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