The Creation of Fire, Ceramics and Architecture in Gottfried Semper’s theory

Abstract

The relationship between fire and architecture can take two broad approaches: First, fire
as the creation, and second, fire as the destruction, which the latter could be found in mankind’s
history. The former, Fire, is the origin of human artifacts such as architecture and other craftsmanship.
Therefore, this article focuses on the first issue, which is the relationship between fire and architecture
in terms of creation.

Fire in the field of architectural theory originated in the Classics until the Enlightenment.
It is found that the significant architectural theory of Gottfried Semper was that fire was the originating
point of marking crafts and architecture. Therefore, this study was initiated through a review of
relevant literature and Semper’s writings to form a theoretical framework and further discussion.
Then, Semper’s concept was applied in conjunction with a comparative analysis of architectures
that are relevant to the fire-creation issue.

This study suggests that Semper’s architectural concept can be used to describe architecture
from the past to the present in terms of symbolism, expression, and the process of creating forms
related to fire. These conclusions open the possibility of applying them to a more diverse
understanding of architecture and fostering more architectural approaches in the future.