Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

_{11. Wieskirche, Steinhausen, Bavaria, Germany (1745–54); architect: Dominikus Zimmerman (1681–1766). This pilgrimage chapel, set in the midst of fields, is quite plain on the outside, but inside it is breathtakingly theatrical and seems at first to be little more than an ornamental froth of plasterwork. This initial impression masks a wealth of technical accomplishment and expressive skill. The building marks the end point of the development of a long tradition of lavish architectural effects, based on an underlying idea of classical ornament, and indeed classical columns and entablatures are to be found in amongst the riot of ornament. The general effect however is to give the impression of a building that has overcome the force of gravity, and the plasterwork looks as if it has been blown about by a great rush of air, causing turbulence in the detail and drift in the whole. Light comes into the building not only from the obvious windows, but also from unseen sources that should have the effect of spotlighting. The theatre is clearly an influence on the design decisions, from the illusionistic ceilings to the plasterwork and timber painted to look like marble. Impressively, everything that was originally in the church was adapted to the same vision, so the pulpit, the lectern, and all the pews are modelled and carved using the same ornamental style and seem as lively and exuberant as the building. When this church was being built, the Abbé Laugier, who worked at the Royal Chapel at Versailles — a building with many qualities similar to the Wieskirche — published a famous and influential essay on architecture, calling for a return to fundamental simplicity and structural clarity in architecture. One can understand why, but nothing else has matched the intense drama of the best Baroque work, which depended on wealthy patrons — the court and the church — with a need for settings for pageantry and ritual. It enjoyed an afterlife in 19th-century theatres.}

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