Athens, Gr. Pathenon. Photograph by Ricardo L. Castro, 2001

Week 1 (06 08 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, 8 September: Pallasmaa, Chaps 1-3.
a. MALTA TEMPLES b. MESOPOTAMIA c. STONEHENGE

Week 2 (13 15 September)

Egypt: Architecture of Death and Light

Modern Reference:18th C revolutionary architects: Boulleé, Ledoux

Reading for Friday 09 September: Pallasmaa, Chapters 1-3 .

Week 3 (20 22 September)

Greece I: Myth and landscape Crete and Mycenae

Modern Reference: Le Corbusier

Reading for Friday, 16 September: Pallasma, Chapters 3-5;
AEGEAN 1: Minoan and Mycenean

Week 4 (27 29 September)

Greece II: Seafaring and Architecture.

Greece III: Theatron

Modern reference: F. Schinkel

Reading for Friday 23 September Vernant, Intro Chapter 1.
AEGEAN 2: Hellenic Period

Week 5 (04 06 October)

Greece IV: Grids and Paths. Pan-metron-ariston.

The Greek Polis.

Modern reference: Mies van der Rohe
AEGEAN 2: Hellenic Period

Reading for Friday, 30 September: ; Vernant, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 .

Week 6 (11 13 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: Vernant. Chapters 5 and 6
ETRUSCANS ROME

Week 7 (18 20 October)

Byzantium: The Right Order for an Architecture of Dematerialization

Modern reference: Le Corbusier at Santa Constanza

Reading for Friday, 14 October: Vernant, Chapter 7

Term paper titles due.

Week 8 (25 27 October)

Early Christian Architecture: Syntheses

Modern reference: Dematerialization in contemporary architecture

Reading for Friday, 21 October: Vernant, Chapter 8.

Week 9 (01 03 November)

Romanesque: Immediacy, Pilgrimage, and Monasticism

Modern reference: H. H. Richardson, Bruce Price

Reading for Friday, : Vernant, Conclusion.
THE MEDIEVAL WORLD:ROMANESQUE

MID-TERM EXAM 03 November

Week 10 (08 10 November)

Western Islam: Geometric ordering of space. Search for sensuous ordering of the World
WESTERN ISLAM

Modern reference: Peter Zumthor's Thermes at Vals, Switzerland.

Week 11 (15 17 November)

Gothic I: Translucency and Light.The Medieval project

Modern reference: A. Gaudi, 19th C. engineers

Week 12 (22 24 November)

Pre-columbian architectures.

TERM PAPERS DUE, Friday, 24 November at 10:30 p.m.

Modern reference: Rogelio Salmona

Week 13 (29 November 1 December )

Oriental architectures.
JAPAN

FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER: SUBMISSION OF VIDEO-SIMULACRA AND BEGININING OF VIDEO-SIMULACRA SCREENING AND REVIEWS

Week 14 (29 November 01 December)
VIDEO-SIMULACARA SCREENING AND REVIEWS

Last reviewed: August 2006