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Teacher
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MUSSOLIN MAURO
(syllabus)
COURSE OUTLINE AND CLASS TOPICS
The course aims to provide analytical and interpretative frameworks for studying the history of architecture in Italy and the Mediterranean region, from ancient Rome to the end of the sixteenth century. It includes in-depth historical and critical examinations of buildings, cities, architects, patrons, materials, and techniques. Special attention will be given to drawing techniques, design tools, and graphic conventions used throughout this period.
Specific learning outcomes
The specific learning outcomes of the course include providing methodologies for analyzing buildings within their historical contexts, considering economic, technological, socio-cultural, and aesthetic factors of the time. It also aims to develop interpretative skills for architectural phenomena, fostering independent judgment, linguistic proficiency, and communicative effectiveness.
1. Critically analyze architectural artifacts within their urban and spatial contexts.
2. Study construction techniques and material usage in relation to geographical and historical contexts.
3. Understand the evolution of space, territorial characteristics, and landscape construction over time.
4. Critically examine historical sources on architecture, questioning their definitions, concepts, and reference categories.
5. Recognize drawing conventions and various project communication tools across different cultures and periods.
PART 1: ANTIQUITY (3RD CENT. B.C.–7TH CENT. A.D.)
Roman Architecture
Roman constructions and the art of building. Military architecture and the castrum. Concrete and cast vaults. Architectural orders. Vitruvius’ De architectura. Public and residential buildings. The Republican-era sanctuaries in the Lazio region. The "Forma Urbis Romae" and the topography of Rome from Augustus to Diocletian. The anthropized landscape of the Romans and territorial infrastructures. Ancient Roman cities in Italy and the Mediterranean. Marbles quarries across the Mediterranean. Apollodorus of Damascus, the Forum and the Markets of Trajan.
Late Antiquity, Early Christian, and Byzantine architecture
Procopius of Caesarea and De aedificiis. Byzantine domed systems. Ecclesiastical and residential construction. Military and defensive architecture. The new Christian capitals. The birth of major Western Christian sanctuaries. Anthemius of Tralles, Isidore of Miletus, and the construction of Hagia Sophia.
PART 2: MIDDLE AGES (8TH–14TH CENT.)
Early Medieval and Lombard Architecture
The idea of Rome and the persistence of Roman architecture. The Carolingian "renaissance." Cities and regions of early medieval architecture. Monastic architecture between East and West. Lombard and Barbarian architecture. Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel in Aachen and the plan of St Gall.
Romanesque Architecture in Europe and Italy
Local characteristics of European and Mediterranean Romanesque architecture. The rounded arch, load-bearing walls, and groin vaults. Pilgrimage churches and hospices. The Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem and the architecture ad instar. Crusader architecture. Cluny III Abbey. Specific characteristics of Romanesque architecture in Italy. Civil and religious power buildings; itinerant craftsmen. Key figures and buildings of Romanesque Italy. Sant'Ambrogio in Milan.
Gothic Architecture in Europe and Italy
Regions and styles of Gothic architecture. The pointed arch, clustered columns, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, stained glass windows. Villard de Honnecour's Notebook. Cathedrals and churches in the Île-de-France. Cities and construction sites of Gothic Europe. The architecture of the Benedictine Cistercian congregation.
Origins of Italian Architecture
Elements of Italian urban space between the 12th and 13th centuries. The Cathedral square and the Town Hall square. Urban monasteries and convents. Mercantile and bourgeois residential architecture. Key figures and buildings of Italian Gothic. San Francesco in Assisi, the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa and Piazza San Marco in Venice.
PART 3: RENAISSANCE (15TH–16TH CENT.)
Renaissance Architecture in Italy
Humanism and the memory of antiquity. Vitruvius and the rediscovery of architectural orders. The evolving role of architects. The new strategies for project communication: drawings and models. Architectural treatises and the birth of perspective space.
Filippo Brunelleschi in Florence. Leon Battista Alberti in Florence and Mantua. Francesco di Giorgio in Siena and Urbino. Humanist patronage and the prince as an architect, Pius II in Pienza and Federico da Montefeltro in Urbino. Leonardo and Bramante in Milan. Bramante and Raphael in Papal Rome. The construction of St. Peter's Basilica. The Raphael's circle: Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Baldassarre Peruzzi, Giulio Romano. The architecture of Michelangelo Buonarroti. Identity of Venetian architecture: Jacopo Sansovino, Andrea Palladio's villas, palaces, and The Four Books of Architecture.
Site visits and excursions
Some Thursday classes generally consist of site visits to archaeological sites and architectural complexes in Rome.
In conjunction with the course in History of Architecture 1 - Channel I, Professor Francesca Mattei
(reference books)
Paul Zanker, La città romana, 2013.
Carlo Tosco, L’architettura italiana nel Trecento, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2023.
Donatella Calabi, La città del primo Rinascimento, 2001.
Or, alternatively:
David Watkin, A History of Western Architecture, London, Lawrence King Publ. Ltd., 20156 or previous editions.
Richard Krautheimer, Three Christian Capitals. Topography and Politics, California Univ. Press, 1983.
Without a basic knowledge of the history of architecture and art related to the periods covered in the lessons, it is strongly recommended to read manuals and textbook on the history of art and architecture in English.
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Università Roma Tre