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 2005
Prof. Ricardo L.
Castro, MRAIC
THEMATIC SCHEDULE
OF LECTURES
Week 1 (03 September)
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 metaphor for historical inquiry.
Reading for Friday, 9 September: Abram, Chapter 1.
Week 2 (7 09 September)
Egypt: Architecture of Death and Light
Modern Reference:18th C revolutionary architects: Boulleé, Ledoux
Reading for Friday 09 September: Abram, Chapter 1 .
Week 3 (14 16 September)
Greece I: Myth and landscape Crete and Mycenae
Modern Reference: Le Corbusier
Reading for Friday, 16 September: Abram, Chapter 2;
Week 4 (21 23 September)
Greece II: Seafaring and Architecture.
Greece III: Theatron
Modern reference: F. Schinkel, Postmodern architecture
Reading for Friday 23 September: Abram, Chapter 3; Vernant, Intro Chapter 1.
Week 5 (28 30 September)
Greece IV: Grids and Paths. Pan-metron-ariston.
The Greek Polis.
Modern reference: Mies van der Rohe
Reading for Friday, 30 September: Abram, Chapter 4; Vernant, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 .
Week 6 (05 07 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, 07 October: Abram, Chapter 5; Vernant. Chapters 5 and 6
Week 7 (12 14 October)
Byzantium: The Right Order for an Architecture of Dematerialization
Modern reference: Le Corbusier at Santa Constanza
Reading for Friday, 14 October: Abram, Chapter 6; Vernant, Chapter 7
Term paper titles due.
Week 8 (19 21 October)
Early Christian Architecture: Syntheses
Modern reference: Dematerialization in contemporary architecture
Reading for Friday, 21 October: Abram, Chapter 7; Vernant, Chapter 8.
Week 9 (26 28 October)
Romanesque: Immediacy, Pilgrimage, and Monasticism
Modern reference: H. H. Richardson, Bruce Price
Reading for Friday, 28 October: Abram, Coda; Vernant, Conclusion.
Week 10 (02 04 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 (09 11 November)
Gothic I: Translucency and Light.The Medieval project
Modern reference: A. Gaudi, 19th C. engineers
Week 12 (16 18 November)
Pre-columbian architectures.
TERM PAPERS DUE, Friday, 19 November at 10:30 p.m.
Modern reference: Rogelio Salmona
Week 13 (23 25 November)
Oriental architectures.
FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER: SUBMISSION OF SIMULACRA MODELS AND BEGININING OF SIMULACRA REVIEWS
Week 14 (30 November 02 December)
Last reviewed: August 2005