Imhotep Today: Egyptianizing Architecture

Taking the monuments of ancient Egypt as a source of inspiration, architects living in the modern era have often incorporated forms derived from the pharaonic past into their own work. Imhotep Today: Egyptianizing Architecture investigates the phenomenon of such adaptations, probing the reasons for it and surveying examples around the world. This volume, with fifteen essays and nineteen contributors, focuses on works dating from the eighteenth century to the present. The title links Imhotep, architect of Egypt's first pyramid, with later builders who have come under ancient Egypt's spell. Imhotep himself would be astonished at some of the later manifestations of pharaonic forms throughout the world: mini-pyramids as garden ornaments and ice houses; suspension bridges hung between Egyptianizing pylons; cinemas fronted with floral columns; temple facades adapted for zoos, theme parks, factories, and stores; and obelisks erected in public squares.

Why Egypt? the book asks. Nostalgia for an imagined past comes into play. So do respect for a formidable tradition, admiration for the purity—or the exuberance—of ancient designs, a desire to add timeless overtones to freshly minted work, and an unquenchable interest in the exotic. These are just some of the many explanations the authors ponder. They also draw attention to the formation of a repertoire derived from a limited number of specific motifs from Egypt that have been favored to the exclusion of other elements. The authors consider the political, social, and commercial aspects of the various instances of adaptation, along with the significance of different uses, from high-minded to festive, for the appropriated forms. The geographic reach of Egypt's influence, as demonstrated in this volume, extends surprisingly far—as far as Russia, Brazil, South Africa, and Australia. The book provides a look at Egypt-inspired works in those disparate places as well as in England, France, Italy, and the United States. Egypt's response to its own past enters the picture, too, in an essay on the project for a new incarnation of the ancient library at Alexandria.

The theme of Egypt in Western architecture (and more broadly, in Western art) has been addressed in a number of previous studies, including works by Richard Carrott, J. S. Curl, and Jean-Marcel Humbert. The present volume is unusual in its global scope and probing approach. The introduction by Humbert and Price provides a useful summary of the issues surrounding the book's topic. One is struck in succeeding chapters by the multiple ways motifs adapted from Egypt take on new associations upon arrival in new surroundings. In nineteenth-century Australia, for example, as Colin Hope demonstrates, gilded obelisks became symbols of that country's mineral output and were linked with Australian national identity. Two specialists on Freemasonry provide (finally) a clear explanation of Egypt's convoluted influence on Masonic iconography. Other chapters are full of interesting historical details, and extensive illustrations and references increase the work's value. One is grateful for the inclusion of recent works, from I. M. Pei's Louvre pyramid to the Luxor Hotel and Casino at Las Vegas.

The subject matter of the volume requires minor repetition, as authors working on separate subjects confront seminal moments, such as the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt or the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, and as they deal with adaptations from the same body of works. This revisiting of themes might have become tedious, but instead one is continually surprised to learn how adaptable the Egyptian idiom has been for so many types of setting. This is an interesting and thought-provoking book for anyone curious about Egypt's legacy in the visual arts.