History of Architecture I

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this course the development of Greek and Roman monumental architecture and the major problems that define them will be traced from the Mycenaean Period, through the formation and development of the classical Greek orders and building types (including the role of Egypt in their origins), through the various intersections of Greek and Roman culture and the role of both traditions in the architecture of Italy from the Etruscan occupation of Rome through the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Among themes to be treated are the relationship between landscape and religious architecture, between religious ritual and monumentality; the conception of divinity as expressed in the character of temple architecture; the architectural expression of religious tradition and even specific history; architectural procession and hieratic direction; the role of emblem and narrative in architectural sculpture; symbolism and allusion through architectural order, religious revival and archaism, and the breaking of architectural and religious canon.