Abstract

Architecture provides a model of Hegel's aesthetic theory. Since architecture displays the characteristics of art works and of the system, this essay maintains that the strengths and weaknesses of architecture parallel those of Hegel's theoretical construct. ;As the threshold to the realm of Absolute Spirit, architecture is considered in terms of general aesthetic criteria, particular art styles , and individual constructions . It is shown that poetic metaphors enhance architectural forms and, in a reciprocal movement, architecture serves as a metaphor in poetry and thought. Basing his argument on the metaphor of being at home, Hegel explains developments in art history, the creative process, and human self-consciousness in spatial terms. Thus architectural history is a search for , discovery and loss of a home. Physical and metaphorical structures come into self-contradiction in the conflicting demands of interiority and the sensuous form of aesthetic appearance. ;The dematerialization associated with the shift from substance to subject proves to be the death of architecture, with implications for the other arts. Within the system, art shares pride of place with religion and philosophy as manifestations of Absolute Spirit, differing only in form. But within their internal relations, art is a precursor to the more explicitly self-conscious forms. Hegel is finally forced by his logical system to reduce contemporary art and architecture to ornamental status, adorning an Idea that has been clearly articulated by philosophy. He allows the hierarchical aspect of the metaphor to overrule the dimension of spatial simultaneity also latent in an architectural model. This essay concludes that Hegel made the unfortunate choice in this regard, rendering his aesthetics unsatisfying; yet a reassessment of his thinking about architecture might restore his aesthetic theory to an openness on the threshold of new ideas