Architecture (ARCH) 300

Architecture 300: History of Ideas in Architecture II examines the principles and ideas that shaped civilization and architecture from the end of the Middle Ages to the early Modern era (circa 1400–1800). Across Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas, architecture was used to promote and sustain states that were structured along hereditary class lines. Throughout this course, students will chart the rise and fall of this idea, the creation of the modern economic state, and its colonial expansion.

By studying the course commentary, textbooks, scholarly articles, and visual and primary sources, students will learn about this long and eventful period of the history of architecture as well as and how it is studied by scholars. Students will complete a series of exercises and assignments while working through the six Study Guide units that will assist in honing the skills necessary for the research project.

Using A Global History of Architecture as a primary reference, the course is organized around a series of themed units designed to develop visual literacy in the history and principles of architecture. The units and the referenced ancillary sources should, however, be studied in the sequence that follows:

• Unit 1: Introduction to Class-structured Architecture: Beijing and China, 1400–1750
• Unit 2: Architectural Imagery for a Class-structured State in Japan, 1500–1750 
• Unit 3: Architectural Imagery for a Class-structured Imperial Vision in Russia, 1450–1750 CE
• Unit 4: Building for Divine Kingship in the West and Beyond, 1400–1750 CE
• Unit 5: New Architecture and a New Society in the West: Historicism in the Service of the Capitalist Enterprise, 1400–1800
• Unit 6: Architecture of Persuasion: Western Capitalism and Colonial Legacies in India and the Americas, 1600–1800