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Draft:Robert Bork

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  • Comment: Though notable, the article lacks independent sources covering the subject's work and impact. Most citations are of the subject's work or closely related to the subject. Astra Travasso (talk) 09:00, 7 July 2025 (UTC)

Robert Bork is a history professor at the University of Iowa specializing in the study of Gothic architectural design..[1]

Early Life and Education

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Robert, born in 1967, is the son of Kennard Bork, a geology professor, and Kay Bork (née Odell), a French language teacher. His interest in Gothic architecture was sparked by family sabbatical semesters spent in France in 1973 and 1980, with a visit to Reims Cathedral during the latter being particularly influential.[2] In 1982, Bork wrote for the first time to Princeton Professor Robert Mark, author of Experiments in Gothic Structure, who would later become his doctoral mentor.[3]

After graduating as valedictorian of Granville High School in 1985, Bork earned his BA in Physics from Harvard University in 1989, and his MS in Physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1990. In the meantime, he pursued his interest in Gothic architecture by participating in a survey of Metz Cathedral in the summer of 1987, by serving as a research assistant for Robert Mark in the summer of 1989, and serving as a teaching assistant in art history at UCSC. Based on these positive experiences, Bork committed to a career in architectural history, earning his PhD at Princeton University in 1996, while writing his dissertation on Gothic spires under the joint mentorship of Robert Mark and Columbia University professor Stephen Murray.[citation needed]

Career

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Bork taught at the University of Connecticut, Sewanee: The University of the South, and Florida Atlantic University before joining the faculty at the University of Iowa in 1998.  He spent the 2006-2007 academic year as an ACLS Burckhardt Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences,[4] the summers of 2008, 2009, and 2010 as an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow at the University of Cologne,[5] and the 2014-2015 academic year as Samuel H. Kress Senior Fellow at the National Gallery of Art’s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts.[6]  In addition, his research has been supported by the American Philosophical Society and by the University of Iowa.  His research throughout his career has focused on aspects of Gothic architecture, including the history of spires, the geometrical methods used by Gothic designers, and the fate of the Gothic tradition in the Renaissance.  In 2024 Bork was elected as a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America.[7]

Personal Life

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Bork married fellow art historian Sally Mills, in 1994.  They have one son, Stephen Bork, born in 1996.[citation needed]

Publications

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Books

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  • Great Spires: Skyscrapers of the New Jerusalem (Cologne, Germany: The University of Cologne, 2003)[8].
  • Gotische Türme in Mitteleuropa (Petersberg, Germany: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2008)[9]
  • The Geometry of Creation: Architectural Drawing and the Dynamics of Gothic Design (Farnham: Ashgate, 2011).[10]
  • Late Gothic Architecture: Its Evolution, Extinction, and Reception (Turnhout: Brepols, 2018).[11]

Edited Volumes

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  • De Re Metallica: The Medieval Uses of Metals (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005).[12]
  • The Art, Science, and Technology of Medieval Travel (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008).[13]
  • New Approaches to Medieval Architecture (Farnham: Ashgate, 2011).[14]
  • The Analysis of Gothic Architecture: Studies in Memory of Robert Mark and Andrew Tallon (Leiden: Brill, 2023).[15]

Selected Journal Articles

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  • “Paper Thin? The Evidence for 12th-Century Gothic Design Drawings,” Arts 2023, 12(6), 220.[16]
  • “The Design Geometry of Notre-Dame in Paris,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 81 (2022): 21-41.[17]
  • “A Geometrical Perspective on von Simson’s Gothic Cathedral,” Nexus Network Journal 24 (2022).[18]
  • “Plan B and the Geometry of Façade Design at Strasbourg Cathedral, 1250-1350,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 64 (December 2005): 442-73.[19]
  • “Into Thin Air: France, Germany, and the Invention of the Openwork Spire,” Art Bulletin 85 (2003): 25-53.[20]
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Geometries of Creation

References

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  1. ^ "Robert Bork | School of Art, Art History, and Design - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | The University of Iowa". art.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  2. ^ Bork, Robert (2012-03-01). "Gothic Architecture, Geometry, and the Aesthetics of Transcendence". UNIversitas. 7 (1): 1–21. ISSN 1558-8769.
  3. ^ Bork, Robert; Sanabria, Sergio; Shortell, Ellen; Smith, Elizabeth; Wu, Nancy; Cook, Lindsay; Gerson, Paula; Sears, Elizabeth (2022-11-28), "Remembering Robert Mark and Andrew Tallon: A Roundtable Discussion", The Analysis of Gothic Architecture, BRILL, pp. 49–74, doi:10.1163/9789004529335_007, ISBN 978-90-04-52911-3, archived from the original on 2023-10-17, retrieved 2025-06-08
  4. ^ "Robert O. Bork". ACLS. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  5. ^ "Prof. Dr. Robert Bork". www.humboldt-foundation.de. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  6. ^ "Robert Bork | Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences". casbs.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  7. ^ "CLAS art history professor named fellow in medieval studies academy | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - The University of Iowa". clas.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  8. ^ Bork, Robert Odell (2003). Great spires: skyscrapers of the New Jerusalem. Kölner Architekturstudien. Köln: Abt. Architekturgeschichte. ISBN 978-0-615-12830-6.
  9. ^ Bork, Robert Odell; Riestra, Pablo de la (2008). Gotische Türme in Mitteleuropa. Imhof-Kulturgeschichte. Petersberg: Imhof. ISBN 978-3-86568-156-0.
  10. ^ Bork, Robert Odell (2016). The geometry of creation: architectural drawing and the dynamics of Gothic design (First issued in paperback ed.). London New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-24767-3.
  11. ^ Bork, Robert Odell (2018). Late Gothic architecture: its evolution, extinction, and reception. Architectura medii aevi. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. ISBN 978-2-503-56894-2.
  12. ^ Bork, Robert Odell (2017). De re metallica: the uses of metal in the Middle Ages. AVISTA studies in the history of medieval technology, science and art. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-27944-5.
  13. ^ Bork, Robert Odell; Kann, Andrea, eds. (2017). The art, science, and technology of medieval travel. AVISTA studies in the history of medieval technology, science and art (First issued in paperback ed.). London New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-25987-4.
  14. ^ Bork, Robert Odell; Clark, William W.; McGehee, Abby (2011). New approaches to medieval architecture. AVISTA studies in the history of medieval technology, science and art. Farnham Burlington (Vt.): Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-2228-0.
  15. ^ Bork, Robert Odell; Mark, Robert; Tallon, Andrew, eds. (2023). The analysis of Gothic architecture: studies in memory of Robert Mark and Andrew Tallon. AVISTA studies in Medieval technology, science, and art. Leiden Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-52933-5.
  16. ^ Bork, Robert (2023-10-24). "Paper Thin? The Evidence for 12th-Century Gothic Design Drawings". Arts. 12 (6): 220. doi:10.3390/arts12060220. ISSN 2076-0752.
  17. ^ Bork, Robert (2022-03-01). "The Design Geometry of Notre-Dame in Paris". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 81 (1): 21–41. doi:10.1525/jsah.2022.81.1.21. ISSN 0037-9808.
  18. ^ Bork, Robert (2022-06-01). "A Geometrical Perspective on Otto von Simson's Gothic Cathedral". Nexus Network Journal. 24 (2): 397–421. doi:10.1007/s00004-022-00591-2. ISSN 1522-4600.
  19. ^ Bork, Robert (2005-12-01). "Plan B and the Geometry of Façade Design at Strasbourg Cathedral, 1250-1350". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 64 (4): 442–473. doi:10.2307/25068200. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 25068200.
  20. ^ Bork, Robert (2003-03-01). "Into Thin Air: France, Germany, and the Invention of the Openwork Spire". The Art Bulletin. 85 (1): 25–53. doi:10.1080/00043079.2003.10787060. ISSN 0004-3079.
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