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Skin, clothing, and dwelling: Max von Pettenkofer, the science of hygiene, and breathing walls

Ekici, Didem

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Authors

Didem Ekici



Abstract

Gottfried Semper is often credited with originating the concept of the building as skin in architectural theory, but an alternative trajectory of this idea can be found in the mid-nineteenth-century science of hygiene. In Skin, Clothing, and Dwelling: Max von Pettenkofer, the Science of Hygiene, and Breathing Walls, Didem Ekici explores the affinity of skin, clothing, and dwelling in nineteenth-century German thinking, focusing on a marginal figure in architectural history, physician Max von Pettenkofer (1818–1901), the “father of experimental hygiene.” Pettenkofer’s concept of clothing and dwelling as skins influenced theories of architecture that emphasized the environmental performance of the architectural envelope. This article examines Pettenkofer’s writings and contemporary works on hygiene, ethnology, Kulturgeschichte (cultural history), and linguistics that linked skin, clothing, and dwelling. From nineteenth-century “breathing walls” to today’s high-performance envelopes, theories of the building as a regulating membrane are a testament to the unsung legacy of Pettenkofer and the science of hygiene.

Citation

Ekici, D. (2016). Skin, clothing, and dwelling: Max von Pettenkofer, the science of hygiene, and breathing walls. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 75(3), 281-298. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2016.75.3.281

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 24, 2016
Publication Date Sep 1, 2016
Deposit Date Jun 2, 2016
Publicly Available Date Sep 1, 2016
Journal Journal of Society of Architectural Historians
Electronic ISSN 0037-9808
Publisher University of California Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 75
Issue 3
Pages 281-298
DOI https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2016.75.3.281
Keywords Max von Pettenkofer, skin, dwelling, clothing, hygiene, Gottfried Semper, Adolf Loos
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/802812
Additional Information Published as Skin, Clothing, and Dwelling: Max von Pettenkofer, the Science of Hygiene, and Breathing Walls, Didem Ekici Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 75 No. 3, September 2016; (pp. 281-298) © 2016 by Society of Architectural Historians. Copying and permissions notice: Authorization to copy this content beyond fair use (as specified in Sections 107 and 108 of the U. S. Copyright Law) for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by [the Regents of the University of California/on behalf of the Sponsoring Society] for libraries and other users, provided that they are registered with and pay the specified fee via Rightslink® or directly with the Copyright Clearance Center.
Contract Date Jun 2, 2016

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