The course outlines the development of Western architectural languages and urban forms from early modern Italy to the globalized 21th century, focusing on monuments and traditions, architects and monuments, and issues of cultural cross-relations. Themes: Antiquity and the Middle Ages, The Italian Renaissance, Masters of the Roman Baroque, Architecture in the age of industrialism and colonialism, The Rise and Fall of the Cities, Contexts in Western architecture and urbanism.
Suggested Readings
John Summerson, The Classical Language of Architecture, London 1980
Spiro Kostof, The city shaped: urban patterns and meanings through history, London 1991
Spiro Kostof, The city assembled: the elements of urban form through history, London 1992
Marvin Trachtenberg, Isabelle Hyman, Architecture from Pre-History to Post-Modernism. The Western Tradition, New York 1986
David Watkin, A History of Western Architecture, New York 2005
Frank Ching, M. Jarzombek, V. Prakash, A Global History of Architecture, New York 2011
Richard Ingersoll, Spiro Kostoff, World Architecture: A Cross-Cultural History, New York 2012
Rudolf Wittkower, Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, London 1949
Henry Millon, V. Magnago Lampugnani, The Renaissance: From Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, Milano 1994 (selected essays)
Rudolf Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750, eds. J. Connors, J. Montagu, New Haven 1999 (selected chapters)
Barry Bergdoll, European Architecture 1750-1890, Oxford 2000
Jean Des Cars, Pierre Pinon (eds), Paris-Haussmann, Paris 2005
Daniel Bluestone, Contructing Chicago, New Haven-London 1991
Daniel Hudson Burnham, Edward Hudson Bennett, Plan of Chicago, ed. Charles Moore, New York 1993
Donald L. Miller, City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America, Chicago 1996
Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas, Cambridge/Mass. 1972
Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York. A retroactive manifesto for Manhattan, London 1978
Rem Koolhaas, Junkspace, 2001, http://lensbased.net/files/Reader2012/rem+koolhaas+-+junkspace.pdf
Yasser Elsheshtawy, Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle, London-New York 2010
Ugo Procacci, History of the Italians, Harmondsworth 1971
Gene Brucker, Renaissance Florence, Oakland 1983
Andrew Wilton (ed), Grand Tour. The Lure of Italy in the Eighteenth Century, London 1996
Obiettivi Formativi
A multidisciplinary approach emphasizes different interpretations of architecture, and their development over the centuries from the birth of the discipline to our days.
Special attention is dedicated to the role of Italian and Western models in 19th and 20th century design and urban planning.
Prerequisiti
A basic knowledge of classical architecture and theories is required.
Metodi Didattici
The course includes lectures, guided readings, on-site visits in Florence and other Italian centres.
Altre Informazioni
Students’ office hours: via Micheli, 2, 2nd floor.
Modalità di verifica apprendimento
Oral examination.
Programma del corso
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
THE WESTERN CONTRIBUTION
(AND BEYOND...)
Prof. Mario Bevilacqua
Prof. Riccardo Pacciani
The course outlines the development of Western architectural languages and urban forms from early modern Italy to the globalized 21th century, focusing on models and traditions, architects and monuments, and issues of cultural cross-relations.
A multidisciplinary approach emphasizes different interpretations of architecture, and their development over the centuries from the birth of the discipline to our days.
Special attention is dedicated to the role of Italian and Western models in 19th and 20th century design and urban planning.
A basic knowledge of the language of classical architecture and theories is required.
The course includes lectures, guided readings, on-site visits in Florence and other Italian centres.
Antiquity and the Middle Ages
The Roman Empire: architecture, urbanism, technology
Pantheon, Baths of Diocletian, Villa Adriana, aqueducts
The birth of Christian architecture
Old St Peter's and early Christian basilicas
Florence metropolis of the Middle Ages
Palazzo Vecchio, S. Maria del Fiore, city walls, Orsanmichele
The Italian Renaissance
Florence from Brunelleschi to Alberti
S. Maria del Fiore, S. Maria Novella, Rucellai Palace
New models: urban and rural
Pienza, Urbino, Poggio a Caiano
Rome from Bramante to Michelangelo
New St Peter’s
Florence under the Medici: Michelangelo, Vasari, Ammannati, Buontalenti
Sagrestia Nuova and Laurentian Library, Uffizi, Pitti, Cappella dei Principi
Religious clashes: Counter-reformation architecture
The Church of the Gesù, Rome
Towards a Globalization of Classicism
The diffusion of Renaissance architectural languages: prints and books from Europe to the world (16th-19th centuries)
Palladio and Palladianism: Italy-Europe-America, and beyond
Masters of the Roman Baroque
Bernini, Borromini, Pietro da Cortona
Architecture in the age of industrialism and colonialism
Athens vs Rome: neoclassicism and historicism in European architecture: Piranesi to Schinkel
European urbanism in the age of industrialism: Haussmann's Paris and its influence
Building America’s architectural tradition: from Jefferson to Modernism
Chicago, "Paris on the Prairie", "Florence of the West"
The Rise and Fall of the City of.
Las Vegas to Dubai, Celebration to Poundbury
Contexts in Western architecture and urbanism. Issues of method, interpretation, approach
Architecture and technology: the Pantheon, Brunelleschi, and Norman Foster’s Reichstag
Drawing: architectural codes in Western culture
Learnig from Pienza: Italian Renaissance 'ideal cities', utopias, and contemporary urbanism
A House of Glass: building with light
Typologies and functions: museums, libraries, railway stations, shopping malls in the 19th and 20th centuries
'I am a Monument': Tour Eiffel, Guggenheim Bilbao, Burj Khalifa
Basic Readings
Marvin Trachtenberg, Isabelle Hyman, Architecture from Pre-History to Post-Modernism. The Western Tradition, New York 1986
David Watkin, A History of Western Architecture, New York 2005
Frank Ching, M. Jarzombek, V. Prakash, A Global History of Architecture, New York 2011
Richard Ingersoll, Spiro Kostoff, World Architecture: A Cross-Cultural History, New York 2012
John Summerson, The Classical Language of Architecture, London 1980
Spiro Kostof, The city shaped: urban patterns and meanings through history, London 1991
Spiro Kostof, The city assembled: the elements of urban form through history, London 1992
Further Readings (at least two chapters from the following books)
Rudolf Wittkower, Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, London 1949
Henry Millon, V. Magnago Lampugnani, The Renaissance: From Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, Milano 1994 (selected essays)
Rudolf Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750, eds. J. Connors, J. Montagu, New Haven 1999 (selected chapters)
Barry Bergdoll, European Architecture 1750-1890, Oxford 2000
Jean Des Cars, Pierre Pinon (eds), Paris-Haussmann, Paris 2005
Daniel Bluestone, Contructing Chicago, New Haven-London 1991
Daniel Hudson Burnham, Edward Hudson Bennett, Plan of Chicago, ed. Charles Moore, New York 1993
Donald L. Miller, City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America, Chicago 1996
Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas, Cambridge/Mass. 1972
Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York. A retroactive manifesto for Manhattan, London 1978
Rem Koolhaas, Junkspace, 2001, http://lensbased.net/files/Reader2012/rem+koolhaas+-+junkspace.pdf
Yasser Elsheshtawy, Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle, London-New York 2010
Ugo Procacci, History of the Italians, Harmondsworth 1971
Gene Brucker, Renaissance Florence, Oakland 1983
Andrew Wilton (ed), Grand Tour. The Lure of Italy in the Eighteenth Century, London 1996
www.architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr: Italian and Western architectural treateses and books published 16th-18th centuries
www.kubikat.org: collective catalogue of the leading research libraries in art and architectural history
www.jstor.org: free access to hundreds of scientific art and architectural history journals (access through unifi.it only)
oyc.yale.edu/history-art/hsar-252: Ancient Roman architecture, a series of lectures by prof. Diana Kleiner, Yale University
academia.edu: academics' sites with downloadable scholarly essays
Further readings and websites will be indicated during lectures