Spiro Kostof

Spiro Kostof ( born May 7, 1936 in Istanbul; † 7 December 1991 in Berkeley ) was an American architectural historian who taught at the University of California at Berkeley.

Life

Born as the son of Bulgarian parents in Turkey Spiro Konstantine Kostof began his academic education at Robert College in Istanbul. In 1957 he went to study at Yale University in the United States. Although he originally wanted to do a degree in theater arts, his interests shifted to the field of architectural history. Kostof was in 1961 with the dissertation Baptistry of Ravenna: A Study doctorate in early Christian Art and Architecture. From 1961 to 1965 he taught at Yale, then taught Kostof at the University of California. At Berkeley, he remained to his death in 1991. Was the same time as a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, worked at Columbia University and Rice University.

Spiro Kostof looked at the art and architecture in the style of Max Weber's structural- analytical point of view and without Eurocentrism. He examined, among other things, the permanent tension between the organic and the urban development. In antiquity as well as in ancient China or the European colonial empires from the 16th to the 18th century popular grid planning Kostof dealt with the " planning of the picturesque ", the symbolism of the skyline, from the dominance of domes and temples towers up to that of the " Cathedrals of money". He analyzed the phenomenon of urban edges and its variants, from the city walls and waterfront up to escalating Siedlungsbrei of suburbanization, but for example, the social and ethnic and urban district formation. Kostof compared the structural similarities of the Roman legionary camps and concentration camps and those of modern " royal avenues " and " socialist highways ".

Kostofs textbook A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals, the first time in 1985 appeared, soon became the standard work and a modern classic in its field. His two-volume historical work city could no longer stop the deceased at the age of 55 years author. The second volume edited Kostofs friend and collaborator Greg Castillo according to the notes from the estate.

The American Society of Architectural Historians - 1974-1976 Kostof was president of the company - has been awarded since 1993 Spiro Kostof Award for a superb English-language books on architectural history.

Publications

  • The Orthodox Baptistery of Ravenna. Yale University, 1965
  • Caves of God. The Monastic Environment of Byzantine Cappadocia. MIT Press, Massachusetts 1972
  • History of Architecture. Settings and Rituals. Oxford University Press, New Haven, 1985
  • The City Shaped. Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History Thames & Hudson, London 1991 German edition: The face of the city. History of urban diversity. Translated from the English by Klaus Blocher and Susanne statesman. Campus, Frankfurt / New York 1993
  • German edition: The Anatomy of the city. History of urban structures. In collaboration with Greg Castillo. Translated from English by Klaus Binder and Jeremy Gaines. Campus, Frankfurt / New York 1993
  • Volume 1: From the beginnings to the Roman Empire. DVA, Stuttgart 1992
  • Volume 2: From the Early Middle Ages to the late Baroque. DVA, Stuttgart 1993
  • Volume 3: From Classicism to Modernism. DVA, Stuttgart 1993
December 7 Berkeley, California Raster
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