AR3201 - WORLD ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM: EARLY CIVILISATIONS TO RENAISSANCE (Syllabus) 2021-regulation Anna University

AR3201 - WORLD ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM: EARLY CIVILISATIONS TO RENAISSANCE (Syllabus) 2021-regulation Anna University

AR3201	WORLD ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM: EARLY CIVILISATIONS TO RENAISSANCE	LTP/SC

3003

OBJECTIVES:

• To introduce the timeline and geography of evolution of human society in order to set the context for the study of architecture and urbanism across the ages.
• To give knowledge about early civilisations and their productions.
• To enable an understanding of the contributions of Classical Greece and Rome.
• To enable understanding of the intersecting forces in Europe such as religion, trade, technology, etc from the decline of Roman empire to the Medieval period and the resultant architecture and urbanism.
• To create awareness of the emergence of Renaissance and humanism in Europe and the resultant architecture and urbanism.

UNIT I	PREHISTORY TO RIVER VALLEY CIVILISATIONS	6

Different ages of human history. Time line and geography of human civilisations. Elements and determinants of human settlements. Prehistoric habitats and art. River Valley civilisations of Nile, Indus, Tigris/Euphrates and Yellow river; their geographical context; their political, social, religious, cultural and economic systems; settlement patterns, dwellings and other buildings.

UNIT II	PERSIA, GREECE AND ROME	10

Early Persian empire, its cities and architecture.
Origin of Greek civilisation. Nature of settlements and dwellings. Political, social, religious, cultural and economic systems. Greek philosophy. Greek polis and democracy. Evolution of the Greek temple and the building of the Acropolis. Public architecture - Theatre and Agora. Other building types. Optical illusions in architecture
Origin of Roman civilisation. Nature of settlements and dwellings. Political, social, religious, cultural and economic systems. Republic and Empire. Urban planning. Domestic architecture. Architecture as imperial propaganda. Forums and basilicas. Other building types. Structural forms: materials and techniques of construction spanning large spaces.
Political empires of Persia, Greece and Rome and their larger effects.

UNIT III	JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM	9

Judaism and Christianity- Birth and geographic spread. Transformation of the Roman Empire. Early Christian worship and burial. Church planning-Basilican concept. Byzantine empire. Centralised plan concept in churches. Birth and spread of Islam in the first millennium. Outline of building types of Islam. Commonality in forms and ideas across Southern/ Eastern Europe and Western/ Central Asia.

UNIT IV	MEDIEVAL EUROPE	10

Outline history of medieval Europe- Population explosion, feudalism and rural manorial life, development of trade/ commerce and medieval cities, rise of nation states and technology of warfare, religious aspects- papacy, monasticism and crusades. Art and architecture in Medieval Europe. Craft and merchant guilds. Domestic Architecture. Romanesque and Gothic architecture including development of vaulting. Late medieval Europe and its problems.

UNIT V	RENAISSANCE IN EUROPE	10

Renaissance and Humanism in Europe, its causes and its various facets in society. Trade and exploration. Protestant Reformation. Cities and their transformation. Character and building types of Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque and Rococo. Renaissance in different nations. Works of Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Christopher Wren, Andrea Palladio, Inigo Jones.

TOTAL : 45 PERIODS

OUTCOMES:

• An overall understanding of the timelines and early history of civilisations and their contributions across the world.
• Knowledge about the contributions of Greece and Rome to architecture and urbanism.
• Familiarity with the intersecting forces in Europe from decline of Roman empire to Medieval times and their manifestation in cities and architecture.
• An understanding of Renaissance and humanism and the resultant architecture and urbanism.

REQUIRED READING:

• Ching, F. D. K., Jarzombek, M. and Prakash, V, ‘A Global History of Architecture’, 2nd Ed. John Wiley and Sons, 2010.
• Sir Banister Fletcher, ‘A History of Architecture’, CBS Publications (Indian Edition),1999.
• Spiro Kostof, ‘A History of Architecture – Setting and Rituals’, 2nd Ed, Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Leland M Roth, ‘Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning’, Westview Press, 2013.

REFERENCES:

1. David Watkin, ‘A History of Western Architecture’, Laurence King Publishing, 2015.
2. Pier Luigi Nervi, General Editor, ‘History of World Architecture Series’, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1972.
3. S. Lloyd and H.W. Muller, ‘History of World Architecture – Series’, Faber and Faber, London,1986.
4. Gosta, E. Samdstrom, ‘Man the Builder’, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York, 1975.
5. Vincent Scully, ‘Architecture – The Natural and the Man Made’, Harper Collins, 1991.