Human experience is shaped by the built environment. This course introduces students to the interrelated fields of architecture, art history, and engineering and explores great architectural monuments from the ancient to the modern period, from India across the Mediterranean and Europe to the US. The focus will be on understanding these works in their structure and function, both as products of individual ingenuity and reflections of Zeitgeist. Questioning these monuments from a present-day perspective across the cultures will be an important ingredient, as will be podium discussions, guest lectures, excursions, and all kinds of visualizations, from digital walk-throughs to practical design exercises.

No prerequisites.

Regularly taught in the fall term, this course fulfills the Arts & Letters general requirement and is approved as a pilot course. It satisfies History of Art 100-level course requirements. NB: This is only ONE recitation in this course, attached directly to Friday’s class (2-3), in order to provide sufficient time for practica and field trips.