An introduction to the main episodes of the history of architecture from antiquity to the late Middle Ages, with particular regard to urban spaces and construction techniques.
The course of History of Architecture II aims to illustrate a general survey of the main topics of the history of ancient and medieval architecture in Europe. The lessons will focus on specific case-studies, discussed as examples of more general issues. Special attention will be devoted to methodological questions, aiming to present architectural history as a specific field of research in the broader context of historical and art-historical disciplines.
Lectures; exercises; possibly educational trips
The Greek Age - The Mycenaean centers; - the polis: cities and architectures from Archaic times to Classical age (Corinth, Athens, Sparta); - the classical orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) and the development of temple architecture; - the colonies (the Hippodamic plan, the towns of Magna Graecia and Asia Minor) - Hellenistic towns and architectures (Alexandria, Priene, Pergamon);
The Roman Age - Republican Rome (the urban development and the building techniques; the evergetism; the forum, the first basilicas, the temples; domus and insulae); - The creation of the Empire (the major public infrastructures: roads, bridges, aqueducts, the centuriation and the territorial organization); - Imperial Rome (the imperial fora and palace, the bath complexes, the Domus Aurea and the Colosseum, Vitruvius); - The provincial centers (the examples of Pompei, Trier, Leptis Magna, Miletus and Jewish centers); - The late Antiquity (Constantine and the early Christian basilicas, the foundation of Constantinople, Ravenna);
The Early Middle Ages - the decline of cities and the reuse of ancient buildings; - settlements and architecture in early medieval kingdoms; - the monasteries and the great Benedictine abbeys; - The Carolingian ‘renaissance’ - Cluny and the Cluniac architecture;
The Late Middle Ages - The late medieval ‘renaissance’; - Romanesque and Gothic architecture (an old historiographical tradition; new building techniques, the cathedrals, the organization of building sites and the figure of the ‘architect’); - Saint Bernard and the Cistercian architecture; - the Communal age (the squares, the cathedral and the town hall; the markets; building regulations); - the new founded towns (French bastides; borghi franchi, Florentine terrenuove); - the Italian city in the late Middle Ages (the architecture of the mendicant orders; the towers; the examples of Bologna, Genoa, Florence); - the Seigniorial age (the examples of Della Scala in Verona and Visconti in Milan).
Given the approach of the course and the broad span of time considered, there isn’t a single handbook that can substitute the attendance at classes. For a general overview, and / or for more analytical studies it may be useful to consult:
in general:
Classical age:
Middle Ages:
The teacher is available to students for any orientation and bibliographic information, and for further advices about classes and exams.
MARCO FOLIN (President)
ALIREZA NASER ESLAMI
SOLANGE ROSSI
The exams will focus on the issues and problems discussed during the lessons, and will comprise a written (multiple choice) test and an oral examination. Attending students will have the possibilty to take midterm examinations (substitutes of the final written test) during the year.
In addition to the knowledge of the topics discussed in class, for the oral examination it is required the reading of two books by choice among the followings:
