Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to provide the basic historical-critical and bibliographical tools for the analysis and understanding of the main movements, results and protagonists of this fundamental period. Stimulate the critical sense through the knowledge of historical events and buildings.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
The lessons will take place along an itinerary that allows for a critical analysis of the most significant moments in the history of Western architecture from its origins to the early fifteenth century.
Full programme
The lectures will address the following topics:
I. Ancient architecture.
From prehistory to the civilizations of the "Fertile Crescent". Civil and religious construction systems and architectural typologies
Greek civilization. Birth and development of the "code" of architectural orders. The archaic age and Magna Graecia. The classical and late classical age. Athens, the Peloponnese and Ionia. Hellenism. The developments of Hellenic culture in the Mediterranean world: linguistic and typological innovations. Altars, mausoleums and theaters.
The Italic peoples: the Etruscans and the Romans. New structures (arch, vault, dome) and new construction techniques (cement work and rubble masonry).
Roman architecture in the Republican age. Civil and religious public buildings (Roman Forum, temples, theaters). Roman architecture in the Imperial age. The architecture of power: representative and functional values (Imperial Forums, amphitheatres, thermal baths, basilicas, triumphal arches). Residential architecture: domus, insulae, villae and palatia.
Roman architecture in the Late Antiquity and the Early Christian period. Basilicas (the great Roman churches: St. Peter's in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiore, St. Paul Outside the Walls) and centrally planned churches (San Lorenzo in Milan, Santa Costanza in Rome). Byzantine architecture: Ravenna and Constantinople.
II. The Middle Ages
Carolingian and Ottonian architecture. The Holy Roman Empire and the Carolingian “Renaissance”: Palatine Chapel in Aachen. The Ottonian dynasty: the Central European abbeys, St. Michael in Hildesheim.
Romanesque architecture in Europe. The Romanesque church: spaces, elements, construction techniques. Romanesque in Europe. Abbeys and monasteries. Romanesque in central and northern Italy: Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, Modena Cathedral; Basilica of San Marco in Venice; Campo dei Miracoli in Pisa; San Miniato a Monte and Baptistery of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Romanesque in southern Italy: Castel del Monte, San Nicola in Bari, Monreale Cathedral.
Gothic architecture. The transition from the Romanesque church to the Gothic church: structural skeleton, space, light. New forms and new structures: pointed arch, cross vault, flying buttresses. The Gothic construction site: organization, techniques, protagonists. Evolution of Gothic cathedrals in France: High Gothic, “classical” Gothic, Rayonnant Gothic. Gothic in Italy: Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi; Sant'Antonio in Padua, Santa Maria del Fiore and Santa Croce in Florence; Palazzo Ducale in Venice; San Petronio in Bologna; Milan Cathedral.
Bibliography
Text books:
G. Cricco, F. Di Teodoro,
Itinerario nell'arte, Yellow version, Zanichelli, Bologna, 3rd edition, vols. 1 and 2 (with reference to the introductory chapters and those that deal with the history of architecture from prehistory to the beginning of the 15th century).
Replacement manuals (in addition for non-attending students) can be: C. Bozzoni, V. Franchetti Pardo, G. Ortolani, A. Viscogliosi, L’architettura del mondo antico, Rome-Bari, Laterza, 2006 or following; and R. Bonelli, C. Bozzoni, V. Franchetti Pardo, Storia dell'architettura medioevale, Rome-Bari, Laterza, 1997.
Teaching methods
Classroom lessons with projections of images; possible visits to monuments and construction sites.
Assessment methods and criteria
Oral exam on the program of the lessons and the topics covered in the general and reference bibliography
Other information
Course attendance is not mandatory. However, it is strongly encouraged, especially for those students without prior exposure to the study of the History of architecture.
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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