Introduction to Architecture

Catalog description

This course provides an introduction to the history of the built environment from its documented origins to the present, examining important architectural monuments as well as vernacular dwellings, infrastructural systems, and the growth of cities. We will look at methods of building and techniques of construction, but also the ideological intentions of structures, in order to determine the contexts-environmental, political, geographic, social, and economic-that govern their production across an increasingly global network of sites. In general, our goal is to understand the powerful role of architecture in shaping the lives of its users. Fulfills AUS requirement for Art History majors.