4 ECTS credits
100 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1019795BNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.
This course aims to give the students insight into the diversity and complexity of architectural production from Antiquity until the industrial revolution in Western Europe and North America. This course discusses prominent figures, historically significant buildings and experimental projects, idioms of architectural style, the development and (innovative) use of building materials, and the relation between science and construction technology, situated within the broader Western technological, artistic, cultural, intellectual, economic, social and political context. A broad chronological and thematical frame of reference is developed, tying in with important developments, trends and shifts in the history of architecture and construction. Moreover, specific research methodologies, approaches and practices in architectural and construction history are analysed.
The particular focus on the relation between architecture and construction, between design and building techniques, reflects the specific interest of the Department of Architectural Engineering in the relationship between architecture, building technology and structural engineering.
After attending this course, the student is expected to be able to ‘read’ and to analyse historic buildings and documents, with specific attention to architectural, constructional and historical aspects and terminology, and to contextualize, interpret and compare them (in time and space, but also in the socio-cultural, political and economic context), both verbally and written.
The course consists of interactive lectures, supplemented by thematic lectures and guest lectures. During the seminars, the theme of the writing assignment is explained, feedback is given (individually or in groups) and a visit is made to an architecture exhibition and/or a library or archive institution and a building or site (linked to current discussions in the architectural-historical debate or the theme of the assignment). A combination of online and on-campus lectures and/or seminars is possible.
The study material consists of slides for each lecture and a reader with compulsory and recommended literature. The reader includes a selection of chapters from ‘Western Architecture. A Survey from Ancient Greece to the Present’ (Ian Sutton, 1999, Thames & Hudson) and ‘Building. 3000 years of Design, Engineering and Constrction (Bill Addis, 2007, Phaidon). This literature is further supplemented with journal articles and chapters from books by various authors. The slides and the compulsory and recommended texts are made available via Canvas after each lesson.
The following learning outcomes are envisaged in this course unit:
In addition, this course unit also addresses the following general learning outcomes of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering: Architecture:
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 67% of the final mark.
Written Exam determines 33% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
The exam consists of an oral examination with written preparation and a writing assignment containing an architectural historical analysis.
Part 1: Oral examination
Oral examination with written preparation, in which each student is given a selection of questions that are spread representatively over the entire course.
Part 2: Architecture-historical analysis
Analysis of a building, oeuvre, technique or publication (as determined according to the annual theme, e.g. building materials, private dwellings, public space) with attention to historical, architectural and constructive but also socio-cultural and political factors. This analysis is incorporated into a written paper (with proper attention for scientific references, layout, structure, etc.) of approx. 3000 words, supplemented with visual material.
Score weight:
2/3 of the total final score is on the oral examination (part 1).
1/3 of the total final score is on the architectural historical analysis (part 2).
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Architectural Engineering: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Urban Studies: Standard track
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Urban Design and Spatial Planning: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)