OVERVIEW

An introduction to the main episodes of the history of architecture from antiquity to the Renaissance, with particular regard to urban spaces and construction techniques.

AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course of History of Architecture II aims to illustrate a general survey of the main topics of the history of architecture in Europe from antiquity to the renaissance. 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.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures; exercises; possibly educational trips

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

• 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 Italian city in the late Middle Ages (the architecture of the mendicant orders; the towers; the examples of Bologna, Genoa, Florence);

• The Renaissance
  - The rediscovery of antiquity and Florentine Humanism (from Brunelleschi to Sangallo)
  - The world of the courts and XV century architectural treatises: Rimini and Ferrara (Leon Battista - Alberti), Urbino (Francesco di Giorgio), Milan (Filarete)
  - Classicism VS Tradition: Rome (from Bramante to Michelangelo) and Venice (Sansovino, Palladio)
  - The new fortifications and the XVI century architectural treatises
  - The figure of the architect in the Renaissance and the organization of building sites

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

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:

• L. Benevolo, Storia della città, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1993 (4 voll.: La città antica; La città medievale; La città moderna; La città contemporanea);
• G. Cricco-F. Di Teodoro, Itinerario nell’arte, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2006, 5 voll.
• S. Settis-T. Montanari, Arte. Una storia naturale e civile, Einaudi, Torino, 2019, 5 voll.

Classical age:

• J.P. Adam, L’arte di costruire presso i romani: materiali e tecniche, Milano, Longanesi, 1988;
• C. Bozzoni-V. Franchetti Pardo-G. Ortolani-A. Viscogliosi, L’architettura del mondo antico, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2006;
• E. Greco-M. Torelli, Storia dell’urbanistica. Il mondo greco, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1983;
• P. Gros-M. Torelli, Storia dell’urbanistica. Il mondo romano, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1988;
• P. Gros, L’architettura romana: dagli inizi del III secolo a.C. alla fine dell’alto Impero, I, I monumenti pubblici, Milano, Longanesi, 2001;
• Voci dell’Enciclopedia dell’Arte Antica Treccani;

Middle Ages:

• R. Bonelli-C. Bozzoni-V. Franchetti Pardo, Storia dell’architettura medievale. L’Occidente europeo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1997;
• E. Concina, La città Bizantina, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2003;
• V. Franchetti Pardo, Storia dell’urbanistica. Dal Trecento al Quattrocento, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1982;
• A. Grohmann, La città medievale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2003;
• E. Guidoni, Storia dell’urbanistica. Il Medioevo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1991;
• E. Guidoni, Storia dell’urbanistica. Il Duecento, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1989;
• Voci dell’Enciclopedia dell’Arte Medievale Treccani.

The teacher is available to students for any orientation and bibliographic information, and for further advices about classes and exams.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARCO FOLIN (President)

ALIREZA NASER ESLAMI

SOLANGE ROSSI

LESSONS

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

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.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

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:

• J.S. Ackerman, La villa: forma e ideologia, Torino, Einaudi, 1992 (20002);
• L'architetto: ruolo, volto, mito, a cura di G. Beltramini - H. Burns, Venezia, Marsilio, 2009;
• R. Carpenter, Gli architetti del Partenone, Torino, Einaudi, 1979;
• Corti italiane del Rinascimento. Arti, cultura e politica, 1395-1530, a cura di M. Folin, Milano, Officina Libraria, 2010;
• M. Folin - M. Preti, Da Gerusalemme a Pechino. I monumenti della storia universale di J.B. Fischer von Erlach, Modena, Panini, 2018;
• G. L. Hersey, Il significato nascosto dell'architettura classica. Speculazioni sull'ornato architettonico da Vitruvio a Venturi, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2001.
• R. Krautheimer, Tre capitali cristiane. Topografia e politica, Torino, Einaudi, 1987;
• R. Krautheimer, Architettura sacra paleocristiana e medievale, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1993 (pp. 1-270);
• Rappresentare la città. Topografie urbane nell’Italia di antico regime, a cura di M. Folin, Reggio Emilia, Diabasis, 2009;
• M. Tafuri, Venezia e il Rinascimento. Religione, scienza, architettura, Torino, Einaudi, 1985;
• M. Tafuri, Ricerca del Rinascimento. Principi, città, architetti, Torino, Einaudi, 1994;
• P. Zanker, Pompei: società, immagini urbane e forme dell’abitare, Torino, Einaudi, 1993;
• P. Zanker, Augusto e il potere delle immagini, Torino, Einaudi, 1989;
• B. Zevi, Saper vedere l’urbanistica. Ferrara di Biagio Rossetti, la prima città moderna europea, Torino, Einaudi, 1971

Exam schedule