Associate Professor Ross Anderson talks about his book The Appian Way.

Before the talk, which will commence at approximately 2pm, we will be screening Part 5 of 'Wagner' - the film by Tony Palmer

Precis:

Adolphe Appia (1862-1928) is an enigmatic figure in the history of modern theatre, best known for his writings on the mise-en-scène and stage designs for the music dramas of Richard Wagner. Appia challenged the naturalistic conventions of nineteenth-century stage design and developed a new vision founded on light, space, music and movement.

Drawing on his recent book The Appian Way: Adolphe Appia and the Scenography of Architecture, Ross Anderson explores Appia’s lifelong engagement with Wagner, from his early scenographic studies for Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde, and Parsifal to his unrealised ambitions for Bayreuth. The talk will also reveal how Appia’s ideas - embodied in his remarkable austere yet atmospheric drawings and in his writings - extended beyond the stage, exerting a profound influence on twentieth-century architecture and aesthetics.

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Ross Anderson is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Sydney.

Having practiced as an architect in the offices of Daniel Libeskind and Zvi Hecker, both in Berlin, he completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge with a dissertation entitled ‘From the Bauhütte to the Bauhaus’. His research on modern European architecture, scenography and aesthetics has been published in journals including AA Files, The Bauhaus Annual, Architectural Histories, Drawing Matter Journal and Art Bulletin.

His co-edited book Modern Architecture and the Sacred was published by Bloomsbury in 2020, and his major monograph The Appian Way: Adolphe Appia and the Scenography of Modern Architecture was published by Park Books in 2025.

Ross is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.