The return of
Wittgenstein
Currently showing in London is a small ‘cabinet’ exhibition
open to the public in the Library Print Room, Royal Academy, through
28 January. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein has been a compelling
figure in British intellectual life. He died in Cambridge in l951,
aged 61 years and having been a fellow of Trinity College (l930—36)
and professor (l939—l947). His life, like his philosophy, was
characterised by a profound but rigorous austerity that impressed
his Cambridge mentor Bertrand Russell early on. But the subject
of the exhibition, entitled ‘The Unknown Wittgenstein’
is centred around the house which he effectively designed and built
for his sister in Kundmanngasse, Vienna. Strongly influenced by
the architectural thinking of the Viennese Adolf Loos (itself a
reaction to the prolific decorative art that permeated buildings
in the early part of the 20th century) the Wittgenstein House as
it is known became an eccentric but prescient landmark amidst Viennese
avant-garde architecture. Professor Hans Hollein, when editing
the magazine Bau, raised concern in the l960s about the deteriorating
condition of the building. It is little better today, although it
is in organised institutional occupation by the Bulgarian Embassy.
Professor Bernhard Leitner wrote a book about the house in the l970s,
co-published incidentally by Studio International, entitled
The Architecture of Ludwig Wittgenstein, it revealingly
but painstakingly reveals the secrets of this remarkable example
of ‘built philosophy’. Now the book is re-published by
Leitner with substantial extension and updating. Since Wittgenstein
was a qualified (and ingenious) engineer there are amazing innovations
in the house. Professor Sir Colin St John Wilson, like his friend
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, has been an avid fan of Wittgenstein since
the l950’s. Wilson designed a house in Cambridge in the early
l960s that is certainly reflective of certain of the ideas that
Wittgenstein elaborated in his famous work, the Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus. Paolozzi was inspired by Wittgenstein
to produce a famous series of screenprints with ‘Editions Alecto’,
entitled As is When. Such engagements are brought together,
largely by Wilson’s enthusiasm in this exceptional exhibition,
which will be reviewed in Studio International in January.
