Critical Comprehensive Edition and Symposium Camillo Sitte

Camillo Sitte (1843-1903) is best known among urban planners and architects for his book City Planning According to Its Artistic Principles from 1889. On occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death, his ample estate, since 1962 in the possession of the Institute of Urban Design and Planning, Vienna University of Technology, shall be published. Additionally, a symposium will take place on Nov 14 and 15, in which international experts will analyze Camillo Sitte`s urban planning theory and discuss his relevance for today`s urbanistic problems. Sitte`s treatise on the basic questions of urban planning was surprisingly successful. The notion of urban planning as being an essentially public and spatial venture was received euphorically and entered numerous planning ordinances throughout Europe. The 1920s avant-garde, on the other hand, emphatically rejected Sittes theory. The reception continued to be ambivalent until the 1970s, when architects and urban planners rediscovered the importance of the Viennese theoretician. This development culminated in the "new urbanism" movement which counts Sitte`s magnum opus as one of its primary historical references. In the field of historiography, only more recent scholarship was able to award Sitte his befitting position as the leading theoretician of urban design in the late 19th century. Almost all scientific works on Sitte until today focused exclusively on his theory of urban planning, neglecting a systematic analysis of his voluminous estate, which consists of 60 writings on architecture and urban planning, 60 writings on music, painting, art history and arts and crafts, 19 writings on pedagogy, numerous letters, 25 architectural and 17 urban design projects. Access to Sittes extensive work in these fields is, however, crucial for any historical and source critical interpretation of his main work. The projected edition will contain four volumes: a reprint of the first edition of "Urban Planning," two volumes with collected writings and one volume containing his design projects. Renowned experts on Camillo Sitte will edit the material, critically comment it and relate it to the current discourse.

Camillo Sitte (1843-1903) is best known among urban planners and architects for his book City Planning According to Its Artistic Principles from 1889. On occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death, his ample estate, since 1962 in the possession of the Institute of Urban Design and Planning, Vienna University of Technology, shall be published. Additionally, a symposium will take place on Nov 14 and 15, in which international experts will analyze Camillo Sitte`s urban planning theory and discuss his relevance for today`s urbanistic problems. Sitte`s treatise on the basic questions of urban planning was surprisingly successful. The notion of urban planning as being an essentially public and spatial venture was received euphorically and entered numerous planning ordinances throughout Europe. The 1920s avant-garde, on the other hand, emphatically rejected Sitte`s theory. The reception continued to be ambivalent until the 1970s, when architects and urban planners rediscovered the importance of the Viennese theoretician. This development culminated in the "new urbanism" movement which counts Sitte`s magnum opus as one of its primary historical references. In the field of historiography, only more recent scholarship was able to award Sitte his befitting position as the leading theoretician of urban design in the late 19th century. Almost all scientific works on Sitte until today focused exclusively on his theory of urban planning, neglecting a systematic analysis of his voluminous estate, which consists of 60 writings on architecture and urban planning, 60 writings on music, painting, art history and arts and crafts, 19 writings on pedagogy, numerous letters, 25 architectural and 17 urban design projects. Access to Sitte`s extensive work in these fields is, however, crucial for any historical and source critical interpretation of his main work. The projected edition will contain four volumes: a reprint of the first edition of "Urban Planning," two volumes with collected writings and one volume containing his design projects. Renowned experts on Camillo Sitte will edit the material, critically comment it and relate it to the current discourse.