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Semester 1

Architectural History 1A: Introduction to World Architecture (ARHI08009)

Subject

Architectural History

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

1

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

**Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

This course offers an introductory survey of architecture in a range of global contexts, from earliest times to the late eighteenth century. It explores how designers and their clients responded to a range of influences, considering developments in architectural style, typology, and engineering. A key aim of the course is to put architecture in context, showing what it can reveal of wider currents in social, political and cultural history. No previous knowledge of architecture or History of Art is necessary.

Course Description

The course begins with an examination of Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman architecture, the architecture of the Middle Ages, Islam, Pre-Columbian America, and the first great re-evaluation of Antiquity in the Italian Renaissance. It goes on to survey the Renaissance in Britain and Northern Europe and the subsequent influence of the Italian Baroque in these areas. Later, other significant cultural traditions in the history of architecture are introduced, such as those of India, China, and Japan. Semester 1 concludes with an examination of the theoretical, cultural, and stylistic aspects of the architecture of the European Enlightenment. Throughout the course the development of building technology and the social, religious, and political understanding of buildings are recurring themes. Excursions into the related fields of landscape architecture and urban design necessarily appear from time to time. The course is not just a history of building styles or building technology, although both of those areas are studied. It also shows what architecture can reveal about wider developments in social, political, cultural and urban history. We welcome the perspectives that students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds can bring to the course. We understand architecture in its wider historical and cultural contexts. No previous knowledge of architecture or its terminology is expected. The course is not a 'technical' one, nor does it involve design/drawing. It draws on introductory lectures (three hours per week), tutorial discussions (including site visits, 1 hour per week), and independent reading (9-10 hours per week). The course is followed in semester 2 by Architectural History 1B, which continues the story until the end of the twentieth century, but either course may be taken as a standalone option.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 40%, Coursework 60%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Please note that spaces on Architectural History courses are limited and cannot be guaranteed for any students who are not nominated to study with us on an Architectural History or History of Art exchange agreement.

view the timetable and further details for this course