XXL – Monumentalized Knowledge (Topoi B-2)

In many parts of the ancient world one encounters building projects of remarkable size. Lists of “wonders of the world” were already circulating in antiquity – lists that dealt in the broadest sense with edifices distinguished by extraordinary monumentality, technical ingenuity and consummate craftsmanship, i.e. that in every way exceeded ordinary dimensions. The research group was interested in the interdependence of spatial conditions and the skills that had to be developed to execute such projects. What factors determine the various stages in the execution of mega-projects, with regard not only to development in space, but also to the preparation or development of technical and systematic knowledge, and to the history of ideas? What compels a society to make colossal amounts of energy and resources available for a mega-project? What can an analysis of such projects contribute to the historical anthropology of space and knowledge?