Department:

History & Theory of Architecture and Heritage Conservation

Course Leader:

prof.dr.habil.arh. Hanna Derer

Learning outcomes:

Objectives

Using usual words
Establishing the basis for specialised culture in the field, by going through the essential compositional principles embodied at the scale of the architectural object, of that of the architectural ensembles and urban settlements in the period that begins with the Renaissance and ends with Romanticism, compositional principles analysed through the prism of the defining aspects of the civilizations and cultures that generated them.

“Learning outcomes” (in “official” terms)

Knowledge
Being the second in the field, the lecture emphasises equally on the assimilation and integrated accumulation of knowledge (but also on the training of the skills necessary for the field in question - see below).
- assimilation and integrated accumulation of knowledge regarding the history, theory and philosophy of architecture, the preservation of cultural heritage, as well as related arts, technologies and humanities, as factors that can influence the quality of architectural designs;
- assimilation and integrated accumulation of knowledge regarding the history, theory and philosophy of urbanism, the preservation of cultural heritage, as well as related arts, technologies and humanities, as factors that can influence the quality of urban designs;
- assimilation and integrated accumulation of knowledge regarding the bearing structure, the physics of buildings, the technologies used in construction and the equipment with all the elements that ensure interior comfort;
- assimilation and integrated accumulation of knowledge regarding the relationships between people and architectural creations, between architectural creations and their environment, the profession of architect and its role in society;
and, through all of this,
assimilation and integrated accumulation of knowledge regarding architectural and urban design, in accordance with functional, structural, aesthetic and economic requirements.

Skills
Being the second in the field, the lecture emphasises the training of skills – in the sense of the ability to reason in a way specific to the history of architecture, in the sense of research and cultural evaluation of the architectural object, the architectural ensemble and the urban space of the market type – relating to
- the analytical approach to the architectural object,
- the synthetic approach to the architectural object through the prism of the architectural style of which it is a part (style being understood as a complex manifestation of a historical era), as well as
- the approach to the architectural phenomenon in its (historical) context,
aiming at the superior development of the skill of
stylistic evaluation from the point of view of the content behind the form.

Responsibilities and autonomy
By their nature, the field (architectural history) and the course promote individual study and therefore
- the increase in the degree of professional autonomy,
while the way the lecture is organised and conducted – down to the last didactic gesture consisting of completing the lecture evaluation questionnaire, in which the professor had reserved a consistent place for the students’ own comments – supports
- the development of the personal capacity to assume responsibility.
Unfortunately, as the questionnaires regarding the evaluation of teaching activities are still anonymous, efforts in this latter sense are partially thwarted.

Content:

Content
1. European and Italian preludes: from Vitruv to the Italian Proto-Renaissance.
2. The cradle of Early Renaissance: Florence – tradition and innovation in the architecture practice: Filippo Brunelleschi.
3. The relationship between architecture theory and practice: the work of Leon Battista Alberti.
4. The spreading of the Early Renaissance: Lombardia, Urbino, Veneto.
5. Centralization and dogma: Rome – the capital of High Renaissance during the time of
Donato Bramante.
6. The vulnerable centre – form and reformation of the content: Renaissance, Mannerism and Early Baroque in the work of Michelangelo Buonarotti.
7. Stable and unstable tradition: the Late Renaissance in and by the work of Andrea Palladio.
8. Reborn centre / centres: Counter-Reformation – content and form of the Baroque:
Gianlorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini in Rome, Guarino Guarini in Turin.
9. Birth of the modern urban planning – urban space in the Baroque Age.
10. The spreading of Italian Renaissance throughout Europe: Italian artists in France, native ones in German speaking areas and British in the Italian Half-island.
11. National replicas: evolving Classicism in France, German Renaissance and Palladianism in Britain.
12. The temporary freedom: Baroque and Rococo as intermezzo.
13. Unified national tendencies: Classicism in the second half of the 18th century.
14. Diversifying options: Romanticism.

Teaching Method:

Teaching method:
lectures with digital images

Assessment:

Evaluation method:
exam written paper

Bibliography:

Minimal literature

E-books (as well)

Ching, Francis D. K.; Jarzombek, Mark M.; Prakash, Vikramaditya, A Global History of Architecture, Wiley, 2017
Fletcher, Banister, Sir, A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, 1953 sau alte ediții
Harbison, Robert, Travels in the History of Architecture, Reaktion Books, 2011
Roth, Leland M.; Roth Clark, Amanda C., Understanding Architecture. Its Elements, History, and Meaning, Routledge, 2018

Books (relating to all eras)

Chastel, André, L’Art Italien, Frammarion, Paris, (1995) 2004
Gympel, Jan, The Story of Architecture: from Antiquity to the Present, 2008
Harouel, Jean Louis, Istoria urbanismului, ed. Meridiane, București, 2001
Moffett, M., Fazio, M., Wodehouse, L., A World History of Architecture, Laurence King ed., London, 2003
Norberg-Schulz, Christian, Signification dans l’architecture occidentale, éditions Mardaga, 1988
Pevsner, Nikolaus, An outline of European Architecture, Penguin Books, 1964
Polley, Robbie; Fletcher, Margaret, Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2021
Sutton, Ian, L’Architecture Occidentale de la Grèce antique à nos jours, Thames and Hudson SARL, Paris, (1999) 2001
Watkin, David, A history of western architecture, Laurence King ed., London, 2000
Voitec-Dordea, Mira, Renaștere, baroc și rococo în arhitectura universală, ed. Regia Autonomă Monitorul Oficial, București, 2000
Dordea, Mira, Note de curs, UAUIM

Selective literature is provided at the beginning of each teaching cycle.