Constellations: HAA 2400 Special Topics Modern - Architecture and Historicism in 19th-century France and Britain
This course will investigate two dominant strands of architectural writing in nineteenth-century France and Britain that contributed to the development of historicism, the first being texts on architectural history and theory that formed the basis of the French Beaux-Arts design curriculum, the second being works on medieval architecture that were part of revivalist discourses in both France and Britain. In addition to examining canonical works by major theorists such as Quatremere de Quincy, Pugin, Ruskin, and Viollet-le-Duc, a range of texts such as archaeological monographs and professional periodical literature will also be discussed. This seminar course will be built around the exceptionally rich architectural holdings of the Bernd Collection at the Carnegie Library and the rare book collections at the Hillman and Frick libraries. The objective of this course is to examine the language and ideas of various authors whose thinking contributed significantly to the development of historicist discourse, and to place their texts within the cultural, institutional, and intellectual milieu in which they were produced. Issues such as genre, format, the relationship of texts and images, printing techniques, the publishing industry, patronage networks and collecting will also be considered as part of a comprehensive analysis of architectural writing in nineteenth-century. A good reading knowledge of French will be an asset.
