Summer 2010

Prof. Giovanna Piga

office hours: by appointment

email: pigagio@gmail.com

Course description

This course is designed to familiarize the student with Roman Architecture from Antiquity to the Contemporary. Leading figures as well as major architectural movements and periods will be portrayed in this course. Through the analysis of the most outstanding works of Roman Architecture, the students will develop an awareness and an understanding of the historical and cultural issues that, not only formed the city of Rome, but influenced and shaped Western culture and civilization.

Each class, except the first and the final, will be held at sites both outdoors and indoors around Rome. The course will meet twice a week for 3 hours and 20 minutes. Site visits will be coordinated according to the topics and readings will be assigned on a weekly basis in order to provide information and a common ground for class discussion.

Note: Students should anticipate needing about €30 to cover entrance fees to museums, monuments, or galleries during this course.

Course learning objectives

During the semester work the following objectives will be pursued:

•  to achieve an understanding of the basic principles and concepts of Roman
• Architecture, and Urbanism that shaped the Roman Empire and Western culture.
•  to foster an awareness of the multilayered, architectural complexity of the City of Rome.
•  to establish strategies for analyzing this complexity and understanding the wider
• implications of a building's role within such a setting.
•  to develop skills for visually reading architecture and abilities for understanding the
• relationships between architecture and civilization.

Course learning activities

•  Lecture the first class will be held at the campus in power point presentation of slides, in order to introduce the students with the course objectives and requirements and to provide an overview of the program.
•  Readings have been selected for this course. Students are required to read the relative topics before each class and come ready to discuss. Reading about the topic in advance will allow the student a greater familiarity with the material before it is presented formally in class. In addition you will be provided with appropriate summary handouts referring to most lectures.
•  On-site visits the course is based on-site visits. On-site visits are “regular” classes and students are required to arrive on time and follow the lecture as in a regular classroom setting. Considering the relatively short amount of time and the challenging program, students are encouraged to plan extra on-site visits on their own; this is a vital part of your development. A list of itineraries will be given on request.

Course Requirements

There will be one final exam based on readings, classroom and on-site lectures. The final exam will be based on all the course work. In addition, students are required to keep a journal of their observations, comments, notes, sketches and/or photographs.

Course requirements comprise a final paper based on a topic that is course related. Students are required to submit an outline for their research at due date to be approved by the professor. The result of your research will be prepared as one written essay of at least 5 typed pages, regarding specific topics. Final paper topics can be a further analysis of what we have discussed in class or any topic that is course related.

Students are required to read the hand-outs and to do the assignments according to the indications given by the professor.

N.B. Changes in examination dates are not open to negotiation. Absence from an exam without a valid excuse will result in an F (0 points) for the exam. Make-up examinations will not be given for travel-related absences. Cheating or dishonesty of any kind on an examination will be penalized with an F (0 points) grade.

Grading

Grading will be calculated according to the following criteria:

CLASS PARTICIPATION

15% This part of the grading will be evaluated based on the demonstration of having done the readings, willingness to answer questions, and attention and response to classmates. You are expected to attend each class, to read the assigned material prior to class, and to be prepared with questions and comments for discussion. The quality of this discussion based course depends on students’ preparation. Class participation is inclusive of attendance, keeping up to date with the readings, and participating in class discussions. Missing one class or more will result in the loss of a full grade point. As the majority of the classes meet on-site, it is important to arrive on time, to allow sufficient time to travel to each site and to follow the lecture as in a regular classroom setting. You are expected to attend and make an active contribution in class.

JOURNAL

20% A journal of drawing and writing will document the term’s educational experience. Documenting what we see by annotated drawing, forces us to learn about essential physical patterns and relationships in our environment in a way that photography and writing alone cannot. The journal will be evaluated two times during the term for the depth of descriptive content, not beauty or artistic skill.

FINAL PAPER

25% In the course of the term, you will research a topic freely chosen within the parameters of the course. The result of your research will be prepared as one written essay of at least 5 typed pages, 12 point, plus a minimum of two sketches to illustrate your points. Photos and maps/floor plans are encouraged. Final paper topics can be a further analysis of what we have discussed in class or any topics on the syllabus (whether or not we have gotten to that topic on the calendar). The research outlines are to be submitted by the dates listed in the course outline and are to be approved by the professor.

FINAL EXAM

40% The final exam consists in two parts: 5 questions and a short essay.

Course resources

Required text

The following text can be purchased at the bookstore and is also on reserve in the JFRC library. Class discussion topics, final paper topics and exam topics are found in this text and others on reserve. All reading assignments described are in this text: Architecture in Rome – Selected Readings: This reader has been compiled for your convenience. Full versions of the included texts are available as noted in the reader’s table of contents. All texts noted in the JFRC library are on reserve.

Reading list

The reading list represents books in the library to help facilitate your research presentation and assignments. All books listed below are in the JFRC library on reserve shelf.

General Texts

• Giedion, S., Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition, Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures), Harvard University Press; 5 edition (January 22, 2003);
• Grundmann, S., The Architecture of Rome, Edition Axel Menges, Stuttgardt – London 1998;
• Kostof, S., A history of architecture : settings and rituals, 2nd ed. / revisions by Greg Castillo, Oxford University Press, New York 1995;
• Summerson, J., The Classical Language of Architecture, Cambridge, Mass. : M.I.T. Press, c1963.

Ancient Rome

• Claridge, A., Rome: Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford University Press, 1998;
• Holloway, R. Ross, Constantine and Rome, Yale University Press, New Haven 2004;
• Macdonald, W., The Architecture of the Roman Empire I, II. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982;
• Sear, F., Roman Architecture, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, New York 1983;
• Ward-Perkins, J.B., Roman imperial architecture, Harmondsworth, Eng., Penguin Books, Date: New York 1981.

Medieval (Early Christian) Rome

• Krautheimer, R., Early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Harmondsworth, Penguin, New York 1965;
• Krautheimer, R., Rome, profile of a city, 312-1308, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 1980;
• Ward-Perkins, J.B., Studies in Roman and early Christian architecture, Pindar Press, London 1994.

Renaissance Rome

• Lotz, W., Architecture in Italy, 1500-1600, Yale University Press, New Haven 1995;
• Murray, P., The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance, Schocken Books, New York 1965, 1968 printing;
• Wittkower, R. Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, Chichester, West Sussex, Academy Editions, 1998.

Baroque & Neoclassicism

• Blunt, A., Guide to Baroque Rome, First U.S. Edition, Harper & Row, New York, N.Y. C1982;
• Norberg-Schulz, C., Baroque Architecture, H. N. Abrams, New York [1972, c1971];
• Portoghesi, P., Roma Barocca: the History of an Architectonic Culture, The MIT Press, Cambridge MA 1970;
• Varriano, J., Italian Baroque and Rococo architecture, Oxford University Press, New York 1986;
• Wittkower, R., Art and architecture in Italy, 1600 to 1750, Harmondsworth, Eng., Baltimore, Md.]
• Penguin Books [1973, c1972].

Modern & Contemporary

• Kirk, T.,The architecture of modern Italy, vol.I&II, Princeton Architectural Press, New York c2005,
• Doordan, D., Building Modern Italy, 1914-1936, Princeton Architectural Press, New York 1988;
• Etlin, R. A., Modernism in Italian Architecture, 1890-1940,The MIT Press, Cambridge MA 1991;
• Yarwood, D., The architecture of Italy, 1st U.S. ed. Harper & Row, New York c1969.