75455 - History of Italian/European Architecture M

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to recognize and describe analitically European and Italian examples of architecture from early ages to the XX century. They will focus not only on the formal and stylistic aspects of the buildings, but also on the main features of constructive methods and historical materials (stone, bricks, wood, metals). Students should pay attention to the relationship between architecture and city/territory, and between buildings of different times and geographical areas. They will be able to carry out archival and bibliographical research, to interpret the architecture studied during the course, and to analyze stylistic, typological and technological characteristics of historical architecture.

Course contents

The course will be divided into lectures and labs, which students will be asked to participate actively in by discussing examples of architecture and scientific articles. If possible, guided visits to historical buildings will be planned (in Ravenna and other surrounding cities).

 

1. Introduction

Architecture as a relationship: contexts, techniques, spaces, society. Architecture inthe form of buildings, drawings and written descriptions. The historiographical sources of architecture.

 

2. The Fundamentals: Greece and Rome

Archaic Greece. Religious architecture in Classical Greece (Acropolis of Athens). The problem of the order (structure or decoration?). Roman architecture (Pantheon, imperial palaces). Constructive techniques (trilitycal systems vs arches and vaults) and materials (stone, bricks, concrete) of Greek and Roman architecture.

 

3. Inculturation: the Christian Legacy of Rome

The first Christian basilicas. The new Rome (Constantinople and Hagia Sofia). The architecture of Ravenna (basilicas, baptisteries, Mausoleum of Theoderic, civil and domestic architecture).

 

4. Beginning Again: Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture

Palatine chapel, Aachen. Cathedrals and abbey churches of central Europe. Romanesque in France and in England. Romanesque in Italy.

 

5. The Gothic Centuries

Cathedrals in France (Saint-Denis, Notre-Dame, Reims, Chartres) and England. Gothic in Italy. Techniques and structures in the Gothic architecture.

 

6. The Renaissance: the Rebirth of Ancient Rome

The XV century in Florence (Brunelleschi and the construction of the dome of S. Maria del Fiore). Theoretical fundamentals for the rebirth of the Classical (Alberti). Renaissance in Romagna. High-Renaissance (Bramante in Roma and the rediscovery of Roman techniques). Mannerism (Michelangelo). Classicism (form and constructive techniques of Palladian architecture). Renaissance out of Italy (France, Spain, Britain, Russia).

 

7. Baroque and Anti-Baroque

Roman Baroque (Bernini and Borromini). The permanence of Gothic structural systems in Northern Italy (Guarini, Vittone) and Europe.

 

8. The Return of Classicism

XVII and XVIII century Britain (Jones, Wren). XVIII century France (Boullée, Ledoux).

 

9. The Debate on Style

Neogothic experiences and other revivals in Europe. Art Nouveau/Liberty/Sezession.

 

10. After Style: Modernism and Rationalism

Technological innovations of XIX (iron and glass) and XX century (reinforced concrete). Deutscher Werkbund. Bauhaus. Italian Rationalism. Le Corbusier. Mies van der Rohe.

 

11. After Modernism

Louis Kahn. Post-modern architecture. Open problems of contemporary architecture.

Readings/Bibliography

Lecture notes will be given by the professor. Since the language of the course will be English, students are warmly recommended to read and study one of the following textbooks used by British and American universities. It will be an occasion to get used to didactic and historiographical approaches slightly different from the italian ones.

• Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman, Architecture from Prehistory to Postmodernity, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002.
• Ian Sutton, Western Architecture, New York: Thames and Hudson, 2001.
• Spiro Kostof, A History of Architecture. Settings and Rituals, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

All reprints of these textbooks are recommended.

Other reading references will be given at the end of every lecture.

Teaching methods

There will be lectures with picture projection and labs where students will be invited to comment and scrutinyze lecture topics, together with the lecturer.

Assessment methods

Oral exam based on lecture topics. Students will be requested to prepare a brief analysis of a piece of architecture, based on an archivistic/bibliographical research and synthetic freehand drawings.

Teaching tools

Lectures will be delivered with visual aids such as power point presentations, screenings and internet sources.

Office hours

See the website of Daniele Pascale Guidotti Magnani