Magic Architecture

The first publication of artist and architect Frederick Kieslers epoch-spanning history of human architecture, largely unknown but still relevant. Magic Architecture was the architect Frederick Kieslers most ambitious book project, an epoch-spanning history of human housing from prehistory to the atomic eraand yet it was never published, as Kiesler moved on to other exhibitions and projects. Kieslers comparative exploration of the quasi-magical effects of atomic technology and contemporary telekinetic military systems and the alternative epistemology of magic practices associated with cave drawings and protohistoric subterranean settlements reflects his profoundly interdisciplinary perspective on the evolution of art, architecture, and design. This edition preserves Kieslers conception of the book as a neo-Vitruvian Renaissance treatise divided into ten parts or books that narrate an alternative history and theory of architecture. Also included are sixty composite illustrations, cut and pasted from books and popular science journals, with elaborate captions. The editors have reassembled the books text and illustrations from archival material, supplementing them with notes that document the evolution of the work. Introductory essays provide a chronology of Kieslers research and an interpretation of key themes. Appendixes offer additional textual and visual material gathered by Kiesler for the project.