HAU44015 and HAU44016 Architecture Beyond the Canon 1 &2
Module Organiser: Dr Marie Elisa Navarro Morales
Contact Hours: 1 x 2 hour seminar per week
Weighting: 10 + 10 ECTS
Assessment: Continuous assessment (50%) and examinations (50%)
Since Vitruvius’ De Architectura, the study of architecture has been structured through the selection of works considered exemplary and worthy of study. These works regulate and orient architectural production, lay claims of truthfulness and are supported by institutional authorities. Architectural treatises were one of the ways in which canonical works of architecture were legitimized and an important instrument in guiding architectural production. As the knowledge of antiquity increased, the interest of the lower nobility and gentry in architecture augmented and cities started to grow, the scope of architectural books expanded. Along with canonical buildings, architectural publications started to include city views, fortifications, gardens, public celebrations, theatre sets, etc. In this module we will look at architectural books beyond the canonical treatises of the Renaissance. We will study architectural publications between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries and reflect on how as the scope of works considered exemplar increased, the notion of the canon is challenged.
Through the architectural titles in the Fagel collection at EPB in Trinity College Library, we will study different types of architectural publications between 1550 and 1780. We will examine the role of patrons and publishers, inquire the role of images and their sources, and consider reception, readership and consumption of architectural books in the Netherlands in the early modern period. The work in the seminar will include cataloguing, studying and exhibiting architectural titles in the Fagel collection.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
- Identify different types of architectural publications that appeared between the XV - XVIII c.
- Understand the motivation behind the publication and circulation of architectural books in early modern Europe.
- Recognize the relationship between the published works and architectural production between the XV and XVIII c.
- Identify the different types of representation used in architectural books in the early modern period.
- Identify and analyse books on architecture that both expand and challenge the canon.
- Study early printed books as primary sources.
- Engage critically with secondary sources on early printed books.
- Communicate ideas formed from the study of both primary and secondary sources.
- Learn and reflect on cataloguing techniques.
- Design on-line book exhibits.