OVERVIEW

An introduction to the history of architecture and town planning in Europe between the 16th and 20th centuries, with particular attention to urban contexts and their variables.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to illustrate some of the main questions of architectural historiography: tradition and innovation, language, author, project. The lessons will focus on specific case-studies, discussed as examples of more general issues, in order to identify the continuities, as well as the turning points, affecting the building process over the long period. 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.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course the student will know the main episodes and monuments of the history of European architecture and town planning from the 16th to the 20th cent. He will also be able to master the issues and concepts discussed in the lessons: the cultural coordinates of architectural projects; the political, economic, social role of architecture; the importance of historical contexts.

PREREQUISITES

No prerequisites required.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures. Attendance of lessons is not mandatory, but strongly recommended.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The capital cities of modern Europe

• Paris, from Francis I to Henry IV (French classicism, the places royales)
• Rome, from Sixtus V to Urban VIII
• London (the urban growth and the squares; the great fire of 1666)

The end of the Old Regime

• The architecture of absolutism in France (Paris, Versailles, Vauban)
• J.B. Fischer von Erlach and the ‘crisis of European culture’
• Lisbon and the 1755 earthquake
• The Enlightenment in France (rationalism and neo-classicism, from Laugier to Ledoux)

The age of revolutions

• The French Revolution and the Napoleonic period
•  The ‘restorations’ age: Munich, Berlin, London (Schinkel, Klenze, Pugin)
• The Industrial Revolution and its consequences (industrialization and urbanization; the suburbs)
• The diffusion of new building materials / building types / infrastructure and the development of new skills / professional antagonisms ('architects' VS 'engineers')

The ‘birth’ of town planning

• The first 'utopian socialists' (Owen, Fourier, Godin)
• Paris and the ‘Grands travaux’ of Baron Haussmann
• The ‘ensanche’ of Barcelona (I. Cerdà)
• Vienna, from the Ringstrasse to Karl-Marx-Hof (C. Sitte and O. Wagner)
• The housing question (E. Howard and the Garden city)

The American models

• From the first town plans to the birth of the skyscraper (Washington and New York; the fire of Chicago; Adler & Sullivan)
• Frank Lloyd Wright (from the Prairie houses to Broadacre city)

The International Syle

• The new materials (Perret)
• Bauhaus from Weimar the United States (Gropius, Mies van der Rohe)
• Le Corbusier, the CIAM and the Athens Charter

The case of Italy

• The ‘disputed city’ and the issue of an ‘Italian style’ (Florence, then Rome, capitals; the renovation of Naples; Milan; the Soprintendenze and the IACP)
• Giovannoni and the first Schools of Architecture
• Fascist architecture (Italian rationalism and the ‘Stone Fascism’) 

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:

• G. Cricco-F. Di Teodoro, Itinerario nell’arte, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2010, voll. 4-5 (versione gialla)
• L. Spagnoli, Storia dell’urbanistica moderna, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2008-2010, 2 voll.
• S. Settis - T. Montanari, Arte. Una storia naturale e civile, Torino, Einaudi, 2019, voll. 4-5

urban aspects:

• L. Benevolo, Storia dell’architettura moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1993;
• D. Calabi, Storia dell’urbanistica europea. Questioni, strumenti, casi esemplari, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2004
• Ead., Storia della città. L’età contemporanea, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005
• P. Sica, Storia dell’urbanistica, Bari, Laterza, 1992, 3 voll.

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

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

https://corsi.unige.it/9915/p/studenti-orario

Class schedule

L'orario di tutti gli insegnamenti è consultabile all'indirizzo EasyAcademy.

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.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

In addition to the knowledge of the topics discussed in class, for the oral examination it is required the reading of one book by choice among the followings:

• G. Curcio, La città del Settecento, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008 + G. Zucconi, La città dell’Ottocento, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2001
• P. Di Biagi (a cura di), I classici dell’urbanistica moderna, Roma, Donzelli, 2002
• M. Folin (a cura di), Rappresentare la città. Topografie urbane nell’Italia di antico regime, Reggio Emilia, Diabasis, 2009
• M. Folin - M. Preti, Da Gerusalemme a Pechino, da Roma a Vienna. Sul Saggio di architettura storica di J.W. Fischer von Erlach, Modena, Panini, 2019
• G. Giovannoni, Dal capitello alla città, Milano, Jaca book, 1997 + C. Sitte, L’arte di costruire le città. L’urbanistica secondo i suoi fondamenti artistici (1889), Milano, Jaca Book, 1981
• F. Mangone, M.G. Tampieri (a cura di), Architettare l’Unità, Architettura e istituzioni nelle città della nuova Italia 1861-1911, Pozzuoli, Paparo, 2011
• B. Zevi, Saper vedere l’architettura, Saggio sull’interpretazione spaziale dell’architettura, Torino, Einaudi, 2009 (1948)
• G. Zucconi, La città contesa: dagli ingegneri sanitari agli urbanisti (1855-1942), Milano, Jaca Book, 1999
• G. Zucconi, La città degli igienisti, Riforme e utopie sanitarie nell'Italia umbertina, Roma, Carocci, 2022

FURTHER INFORMATION

Given the character of the course, attendance of lessons will be advantageous.