M C G I L L U N I V E R S I TY
S C H O O L O F A R C H IT E C T U R E
ARCHITECTURAL
HISTORY I
F A L L 2004
Prof. Ricardo L.
Castro, MRAIC
THEMATIC SCHEDULE
OF LECTURES
Week 1 (01 04September)
Introduction. Course formalities.
The sense of “passion” (pathos). Why History.? Geographies, Chorographies, Topographies.
Making structuralism à la Barthes (Cf. Roland Barthes, “The Eiffel Tower.”)
Topographies: Water, architecture, and cities. Architectural Landcapes: Land Art, Stonehenge, Malta. The Tower and the Ark as achetypes. Babel, Ziggurats, Stupas, Pagodas, and Pyramids. Panorama and landscape.
Vernacular architecture (architecture without an “author.”)
The layers of architecture: ecological, societal, operational, experiential, and symbolic.
The Odissey and the Argonautica: two timeless narratives as a metaphore for historical inquiry.
Reading for Friday, 3 September: Ballantyne, Intro and Chapter 1.
Week 2 (8 10 September)
Egypt: Architecture of Death and Light
Modern Reference:18th C revolutionary architects: Boulleé, Ledoux
Reading for Friday 10 September: Ballantyne, Intro and Chapter 1.
Week 3 (15 17 September)
Greece I: Myth and landscape Crete and Mycenae
Modern Reference: Le Corbusier
Reading for Friday, 17 September: Vernant, Intro and Chapter 1
Week 4 (22 24 September)
Greece II: Seafaring and Architecture.
Greece III: Theatron
Modern reference: F. Schinkel, Postmodern architecture
Reading for Friday 24 September: Vernant, Chapters 2 and 3.
Week 5 (29 September 01 October)
Greece IV: Grids and Paths. Pan-metron-ariston.
The Greek Polis.
Modern reference: Mies van der Rohe
Reading for Friday, 01 October: Vernant, Chapters 4 and 5 .
Week 6 (06 08 October)
Rome 1: The Etruscans and other Preambles.
Rome 2: The Search for Interior Space, Territorial Conquest and Architecture. The Roman Civita
Modern reference: Thomas Jefferson, Louis Kahn
Reading for Friday, 8 October: Vernant. Chapter 6
Week 7 (13 15 October)
Byzantium: The Right Order for an Architecture of Dematerialization
Modern reference: Le Corbusier at Santa Constanza
Reading for Friday, 15 October: Vernant, Chapter 7
Term paper titles due.
Week 8 (20 22 October)
Early Christian Architecture: Syntheses
Modern reference: Dematerialization in contemporary architecture
Reading for Friday, 22 October: Vernant, Chapter 8 + Conclusion
Week 9 (27 29 October)
Romanesque: Immediacy, Pilgrimage, and Monasticism
Modern reference: H. H. Richardson, Bruce Price
Reading for Friday, 29 October: Ballantyne, Chapter 3
Week 10 (03 05 November)
Western Islam: Geometric ordering of space. Search for sensuous ordering of the World
Modern reference: Peter Zumthor's Thermes at Vals, Switzerland.
Week 11 (10 12 November)
Gothic I: Translucency and Light.The Medieval project
Modern reference: A. Gaudi, 19th C. engineers
Reading for Friday, 12 November: Ballantyne, Chapter 3
Week 12 (17 19 November)
Pre-columbian architectures.
TERM PAPERS DUE, Friday, 19 November at 10:30 p.m.
Modern reference: Rogelio Salmona
Week 13 (24 26 November)
Oriental architectures.
FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER: SUBMISSION OF SIMULACRA MODELS AND BEGININING OF SIMULACRA REVIEWS
Week 14 (01 03 December)
Last reviewed: August 2004