History of Architecture III / IV

The aim of the course is to trace the most important features of Baroque architecture including its social context and building technology. Students should acquire the ability to interpret Baroque architecture according to its geometrical design and social function.

Contents:

The World of Baroque Church

1.     16th-century architecture in Italy / the rise of architectural treatise

2.     Italian Art and Architecture around 1600 / the legacy of Michelangelo

3.     The Birth of Baroque in Rome / Bernini, Borromini and the transformation of the city

4.     Globalization of Baroque

5.     The Triumph of the Church – Czech Art and Architecture after the Battle at the White Mountain

6.     Tendencies of Prague art and architecture in the second half of the 17^th century / palace and church architecture

7.     Tendencies of Prague art and architecture in the second half of the 17th century / palace and church architecture II

8.     The architecture of Dientzenhofer family I

9.     The architecture of Dientzenhofer family II – High Baroque Church as a Gesamtkunstwerk

10.  The Baroque Gothic of J. B. Santini-Aichl

11.  The Decay of the Baroque World

12.   Excursion – St Nicholas’ Church and the churches of the Lesser Side

Textbooks available in the library:

• Christian Norberg-Schulz, Baroque Architecture, Milan, 1979.
• Christian Norberg-Schulz, Late Baroque and Rococo Architecture, Milan, 1980.

Recommended:

• Pavel Kalina, In opere gotico unicus: The Hybrid Architectures of Jan Blažej Santini-Aichl and the Patterns of Memory in Post-Reformation Bohemia, Umění LVIII, 2010, no. 1, pp. 42-56.
• Pavel Kalina, Carlo Fontana, Domenico Martinelli, and Georg Adam II of Martinitz: Architectural Design, Architectural Collaboration and Aristocratic Representation Around 1700, Umění LXIII, 2015, no. 1-2, pp. 34-54.

Grading

• Quizzes (approx. 4x in semester – simple quizz a/b/c/d/ testing the knowledge of the subject matter covered)
• Paper (a short essay about an important Baroque building/buildings in the place where you live)
• Final exam

The minimum number of students to open the course is 5. EXCEPTION for self-paying students: if there are less than 5 students, the course will be taught in consultations.