GEP: Global Knowledge
GEP: Visual & Performing Arts
The online course focuses on the architectural history of sacred and secular buildings from across the world, with emphasis on the centuries before the modern era. The course is organized thematically around notions of dwelling, sacredness, and power through the 18th century. In the sections on the 19th and 20th centuries, new materials, building types, and socio-economic contexts are introduced. By initially focusing on the spiritual purpose of architecture in cultures distant in time and space from us, a fuller, richer definition of architecture can be perceived.
Course outline with examples of topics:
Introduction (1 week) plans, diagrams, and terminology
Dwelling in the World (3 weeks) Batammaliba tower houses; Plains Indians teepees; Anasazi pueblos; Beijing courtyard houses
Dwelling and Power (3 weeks) The Forbidden City; Versailles; The Alhambra; The Kremlin; Machu Picchu
Sacred Sites (3 weeks) Stonehenge; Taj Mahal; Pyramids at Giza and Teotihuacan; Parthenon, Athens; Pantheon, Rome; Naiku Inner Shrine, Ise
Sacred Building Types (3 weeks) Hindu Temple, Angkor Wat; Buddhist Shrine, Borobudur; Christian Church, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul; Islamic Great Mosque, Cordoba
Secular Building Types (2 weeks) Houses of Parliament; University of Virginia, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II; Penn Station; Woolworth Building; Eiffel Tower
Modern Era Buildings (1 week) Fallingwater; Sydney Opera House, Guggenheim Museum at Bilbao; Burj Khalifa