Architect Jong Soung Kimm’s Early Medieval and Romanesque Architecture

The present volume is a photographic essay on Early Medieval and Romanesque architecture in Italy and Croatia captured through an architect’s eyes. It is intended to highlight and bring to life those design elements found in Medieval architecture that are unique to the region rather than to serve as an architectural history narrative. The texts provided describe specific architectural design strategies or the spatial phenomena that are experienced by contemporary visitors. Ideally, the photographs are what tell the story most vividly.

A conscious decision was made early in the project to include a group of significant monuments of Medieval building art that have come down to us on the Italian Peninsula, the veritable birthplace of Romanesque architecture. Thus, San Miniato al Monte in Florence, Sant’Abbondio in Como and Santa Maria la Nuova in Monreale, which are Proto-Romanesque, Lombardian and Sicilian-Norman, respectively, in style, are each considered relevant to this volume and thus included here. Additionally, the Basilica Euphresiana in Poreč is also included in order to encompass the wide arc of Medieval architecture found on the Italian Peninsula and Adriatic seashore.

In the process of culling a dozen or so monuments for this book, what became clear was how diverse the creations of these medieval master builders were despite a limited palette of material and technique, as well as how critical a role the personality and will of patron clergy played in building these places of worship. The religious fervor of Medieval society, the tenacious drive of patron clerics, and the artistic innovations of master builders and their workshops never cease to amaze us today.