Architecture/ Design History A: Prehistory through Baroque

This class is a one-semester introduction to the history of architecture and design from pre-history through the Baroque period. The course aims not only to teach a set of important monuments, but also to develop a set of tools for perceiving, analyzing, and responding to the built environment. We will examine architecture in its historic context, focusing specifically on the ways that architectural expression reflects and shapes social, religious, and political experience. Our class will address the canonical works of Europe and the United States, as well as those of diverse cultural contexts in Asia and the Middle East. Over the course of the semester, students will develop a vocabulary of fundamental terms and key works.