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Academic Year 2003/2004

Number, Order and Measure: Architecture and the Scientific Revolution
ARHA 331 SP
Crosslistings:
SISP 331
HIST 259
COL 331

This course will explore the various connections between architecture and early modern science in France, Italy, and England. The course will include segments on the architectural settings of science, including observatories, curiosity collections, libraries, and laboratories. Thematic discussions will touch on the status of the mechanical arts, developments in engineering and construction, theories of proportion, and the architectural use of mathematical instruments. The course will culminate in an attempt to reassess the work of three important architects of the period: Christopher Wren, Claude Perrault, and Guarino Guarini. Each of these figures saw architecture as an essential part of a comprehensive and multifaceted scholarly culture. We will examine their intellectual careers, how they defined science, and how they understood architecture to be a part of science. We will explore their intellectual contacts, the circles and academies to which they belonged, and how they furthered their careers through patronage.

MAJOR READINGS

Horst Bredekamp, THE LURE OF ANTIQUITY AND THE CULT OF THE MACHINE: THE KUNSTKAMMER AND THE EVOLUTION OF NATURE, ART AND TECHNOLOGY
Robin Evans, THE PROJECTIVE CAST: ARCHITECTURE AND ITS THREE GEOMETRIES
Paula Findlen, POSSESSING NATURE: MUSEUMS, COLLECTING, AND SCIENTIFIC CULTURE IN EARLY MODERN ITALY
Peter Galison and Emily Thompson, eds., THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCIENCE
George L. Hersey, ARCHITECTURE AND GEOMETRY IN THE AGE OF THE BAROQUE
Oliver Impey and Arthur MacGregor, eds., THE ORIGIN S OF MUSEUMS: THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES IN SIXTEENTH- AND SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY EUROPE
Alberto Pérez-Gómez, ARCHITECTURE AND THE CRISIS OF MODERN SCIENCE
Krzysztof Pomian, COLLECTORS AND CURIOSITIES: PARIS AND VENICE, 1500-1800
Paolo Rossi, PHILOSOPHY, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE ARTS IN THE EARLY MODERN ERA
Rudolf Wittkower, ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES IN THE AGE OF HUMANISM

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

One short paper, one midterm exam, two oral presentations, one final research paper

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ART    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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