The Picturesque in Modernity: object image and architecture (2003-2005)

The idea of the picturesque its emergence in the eighteenth century are relatively well known. However, the longer history of the picturesque, through to its use in the present, has not been studied. This Project proposes to describe the key concepts and techniques that constitute the latter history of the picturesque. Against claims that the eighteenth century picturesque was a generic and abstract art, this longer history will show that the picturesque is better understood as an intra-disciplinary relation of architecture and the visual arts. The Project will be of relevance to issues of the historical status of architecture as an art discipline. At a more general level, the Project will be of significance in present issues in the conceptualization of images and objects, including those that arise in virtual environments, issues which first arose in the picturesque. ''