fall 2007
ARC 368R/388R:
History of Central European Architecture, 1648-present
Instructor:
Christopher Long
Prerequisites: Architecture students must have previously taken Surveys I, II, and III unless they have permission from the instructor. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate students from other departments are welcome to enroll with the consent of the instructor.
Description: This course will explore the history of architecture and design in the lands that made up the Habsburg Empire and its successor states (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, southern Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, northern Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, northern Italy, and western Ukraine) from the time of the Baroque to the present, focusing on the rise of the modernism in the region. In addition to surveying the significant building and design trends, the lectures will examine the works and ideas of a number of important architects, including J. B. Fischer von Erlach, Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann, Jože Plečnik, Ödön Lechner, Béla Lajta, Jan Kotěra, Maks Fabiani, Josef Frank, Hans Hollein, and Coop Himmelb(l)au. The course will also include a discussion of the development of the major cities of the region—Vienna, Prague, and Budapest—examining how industrialization, rapid urbanization, and war shaped the distinctive face of each metropolis. The course will be taught in a combined lecture and seminar format.
Educational Objectives: The aim of this course is to familiarize students with the historical development of architecture in Central Europe; to introduce them to the basic trends and leading architects and designers; to acquaint them with the way in which historical change has shaped the region's built environment; and to develop their broader historical understanding.
Course Requirements: Grades will be based on a two-page paper proposal (10%) one mid-term examination (worth 30% of the final grade), one short paper (undergraduates, 8-10 pages, graduate students 15-18 pages; 30%; due on the final class day), and a comprehensive final examination (30%). Class attendance is required.
Required Readings:
Damjan Prelovšek, Jože Plečnik 1872-1957: Architectura Perennis. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-300-06953-7
Rostislav Švácha, The Architecture of New Prague, 1895-1945. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1994. ISBN 0-262-19358-2
plus a course packet of articles available at the University Coop.