Gottfried Semper’s contribution to modern (and contemporary) architecture has been inadequately
explored. This is unfortunate, because Semper’s ideas on materiality and ‘artistic appearance’ (Semper
1989: 190) provide – or so it will be argued – a concept that moves between material ‘honesty’
(that is associated with Modernism), and the arbitrary application of styles and symbols (that is
associated with Post-modernism). Unfortunately, the somewhat detailed, and at times fragmented,
nature of Semper’s thought has lent itself to the misinterpretation that he was, tectonically speaking,
a ‘materialist’ – which is not the case. This paper presents a theoretical reconstruction of Semper’s
primary thesis regarding the role of artistic motifs in the process of material transformation
(stoffwechsel), through which materials are linked to metaphor and to tectonic memory. The paper
extends these ideas via a conversation with Richard Wollheim (1987) and Arthur Danto (1981), and
finally returns to the question of Modern versus Post-modern representation. The paper concludes
that material metaphor (as derived from Semper) is cogent for architecture in that it supports a liberal
imagination, and a mode of representation that is mediated by histories of material/tectonic culture
Sekusobala ukuthi umsebenzi waGottfiried Semper awenzele umphakathi webadwebi bezindlu
awukavezwa ngendlela efanele. Ngaloku kwabaningi uSemper ungumuntu othatheleka phansi yize
efake igalelo ngekusebenzisa izitayela nemfanekiso ejulile ekwakheni izindlu. Ngenca yokuthi
ungumuntu obengazichayisi ekuhlanganisebi izinto zekwakha kanye nemfanikiso, abaningi ababhali
bamazi njengomuntu obesebenza ngezinto zokwakha kuphela. Leliphepha libheka umsebenti ka
Semper, inhloso yawo, kanye nendlela abekasebenzisa ngayo izitayela nemfanekiso kuze izakhiwo
zakhe zivele zinobuchwephesha. Leliphepha lihlahla indlela yokubona umsebenzi ka Semper
kabusha, liphinde libukeze loku mayelana nemisebenti ka Richard Wollheim (1987) no Arthur
Danto (1981) abebagcule ezindleleni zokwakha zesimanjemaje kanye nalezo ezifaka izinhlanga
ezihlukahlukene. Leliphepha libhalwe kuze libeke ebaleni ukuthi ukusebenzisa izitayela zika Semper
kanye nemifanekiso yakhe kuvula izindlela eziningi nezinobuchwephesha ekwakheni izindlu.
