Rediscovering architecture : Paestum in eighteenth-century architectural experience and theory

The rediscovery of the Greek-Doric temples in South-Italian Paestum caused a great stir in eighteenth-century architectural thought and turned existing ideas on classical architecture upside down. More than any other ancient site Paestum came to fascinate architects, artists, writers and tourists, who represented the temples in drawings, engravings, texts or publications in a complex and paradoxical way, showing the developments in architectural thought from the cautious and exploratory rediscovery of the site to a general and strong consensus about the value of the temples. The site made it possible to question many subjects that were important in architectural, aesthetic and artistic debates in England, France and Italy. I argue that this becomes understandable through the analysis of architectural experience, a major theme in the eighteenth century. In studying the experiences in situ the dissertation reconstructs Paestum’s key role in the debates, with as main issues the sublime and the picturesque, primitivism and the origins of architecture, changing ideas on cultural meaning, and classical architecture and its role and historiography. The interactions between architectural experience and architectural theory demonstrate that Paestum functioned as a focus and laboratory for the growing importance of science and history in eighteenth-century architectural thought.