This course is intended for students who have not taken classes in Art History, and may or may not do so again. It is designed to develop basic visual skills and introduce students to the wide range of issues, works, and themes with which Art History is engaged, varying from year to year.
This unconventional survey of architecture and planning centers on case
studies chosen from different periods in predominantly Western but also
non-Western architectural history, from the Greek temple to the palace of
Versailles, from colonial planning in North Africa to Mussolini's new
towns in Italy, and from Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater to the
Batammaliba houses of Togo and Benin. Student writing assignments will
involve writing about first-hand experience of local architecture.
A survey of French architecture covering the 100+ years from the
genesis of Gothic in the 1140s through the age of the great
cathedrals. The course will address stylistic, structural, functional,
and technical questions (What is Gothic? How does it work? How were
cathedrals used? How were they built?), but will also account for
Gothic as a function of the political consolidations of the medieval
French monarchy.
A general survey of the main developments of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Mexican Art in its social context. Particular attention is given to the Mexican mural renaissance and the works of Posada, Rivera, Siquieros, Orozco, Tamayo, and Frida Kahlo.
A historical introduction to the ideas and forms of cities with emphasis on modern urbanism. Examination of social theory to understand the role of industrial capitalism and colonialism in shaping the culture of modern cities, the relationship between the city and the country, the phenomena of class, race and ethnic separation.
Special Topics in Architecture: Architecture in the United States. (session B)
White
Few nations experienced a change in the land as drastic and complete as the United States has experienced in the past two centuries. This course is a study of that change. Historical but not necessarily chronological, this is an architectural survey concentrating on several themes and building types, urban development will be its primary focus. Students will study cities, towns, and individual buildings and building types, as well as the people responsible for their design, finance, construction, and habitation.
What were 'follies' used for in 18th century England? Why are there Chinese
pagodas in England? This course focuses on the gardens of England 1300s
through the 1800s. It begins by exploring the relationship of monastery
architecture, their gardens and stew ponds and how religious orders
preserved our plant knowledge. Students will discover the reasoning behind
the creation of landscape movements such as the 'ferme ornée', the
'sublime', and 'picturesque' and how manners, nationalistic ideals, and
sensitivity of the day all played a role. Finally, the rich legacy from
Victorian and Edwardian garden designs and botanical discoveries will be
examined. It is the legacy of this time period, with new botanical
discoveries and the modern ideas of William Robinson that has nourished our
most recent ideals of beauty. Manor houses from specific time periods and
their background will be used to express their relationship to the
landscape.