The course aims at offering the students the tools for analysing and understanding ancient architecture through a didactic strategy based both on an historical process-based outlook (crucial for an architect's background) and more practical design-based topics, highlighting traditional materials and building techniques, structural behaviour of traditional construction, principles of architectural design, the architectural language of classical orders.
During the lessons the students will be encouraged to understand a ruined construction through diagrams and sketches as well as to have a a structural approach to the building techniques used in Greek and Roman architecture. In order to gain a wide understanding of classical architecture the classes and site visits will focus on the aesthetical issues of classical architecture, the political significance of Imperial architecture in Rome, metrology, design issues, the context in which the buildings were designed and built, the historical sources, ancient treatises.
During the lessons the students will be encouraged to understand a ruined construction through diagrams and sketches as well as to have a a structural approach to the building techniques used in Greek and Roman architecture. In order to gain a wide understanding of classical architecture the classes and site visits will focus on the aesthetical issues of classical architecture, the political significance of Imperial architecture in Rome, metrology, design issues, the context in which the buildings were designed and built, the historical sources, ancient treatises.
teacher profile teaching materials
The course aims to stimulate the ability to interpret ancient architecture, refining the skills of analysis and comprehension of built structures, even in a ruined state, through the specific expertise of an architect.
The lessons cover ancient architecture from three perspectives: theoretical, through an in-depth study of architectural orders and treatises; typological, by analyzing the compositional characteristics and evolution of major public and private architectural types of antiquity (including forums, baths, entertainment buildings, domus, insulae, and villas); technical, by examining different construction and structural principles of ancient masonry and the development of vaulted architecture.
Lectures, spanning a chronological framework from the 6th century BCE to the 4th century CE, will be complemented by site visits to monumental buildings in Rome, Ostia, and Tivoli.
COURSE TOPICS
Ancient masonry: Greek ashlar structures and Roman masonry techniques.
Roofing and thrust systems: Arches, vaults, and domes.
Materials and finishing elements: Ancient stones and marbles from quarry to reuse.
Morphology and syntax of the architectural orders' language.
Vitruvius: how to read and contextualize De Architectura.
Architecture of power: The Imperial Fora in Rome
Architecture of consensus and integration: Entertainment buildings and baths.
Urban residential architecture: Domus, insulae, and villae.
Imperial residences: The Palatine and the Domus Aurea.
Architectural experimentation and ars topiaria: Hadrian’s Villa.
Paul Zanker, La città romana, Laterza, 2013.
Corrado Bozzoni, Vittorio Franchetti Pardo, Giorgio Ortolani, Alessandro Viscogliosi, L’architettura nel mondo antico, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006.
Cairoli Fulvio Giuliani, L’edilizia nell’antichità, Carocci, Roma 2021 (o edizioni precedenti).
SEMINARI: LETTURE
Pier Nicola Pagliara, Vitruvio da testo a canone, in Memoria dell'antico nell'arte italiana, III: Dalla tradizione all'archeologia, a cura di Salvatore Settis, Einaudi, Torino 1986, pp. 5-85.
Salvatore Settis, Futuro del 'classico', Einaudi, Torino 2004.
Salvatore Settis, Continuità, distanza, conoscenza: tre usi dell'antico, in Memoria dell'antico nell'arte italiana, III: Dalla tradizione all'archeologia, a cura di Salvatore Settis, Einaudi, Torino 1986, pp. 373-486.
John Summerson, Il linguaggio classico dell’architettura. Dal Rinascimento ai maestri contemporanei, Torino, Einaudi, 1970 (English ed.: The Classical Language of Architecture, London, Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1963).
Christof Thoenes, Gli ordini architettonici: rinascita o invenzione, in Roma e l'antico nell'arte e nella cultura del Cinquecento, a cura di Marcello Fagiolo, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma 1985, pp. 261-271.
Paul Zanker, Augusto e il potere delle immagini, Einaudi, Torino 2006.
Federico Zeri, L'arco di Costantino. Divagazioni sull'antico, Skira, Milano 2004.
Programme
COURSE DESRIPTIONThe course aims to stimulate the ability to interpret ancient architecture, refining the skills of analysis and comprehension of built structures, even in a ruined state, through the specific expertise of an architect.
The lessons cover ancient architecture from three perspectives: theoretical, through an in-depth study of architectural orders and treatises; typological, by analyzing the compositional characteristics and evolution of major public and private architectural types of antiquity (including forums, baths, entertainment buildings, domus, insulae, and villas); technical, by examining different construction and structural principles of ancient masonry and the development of vaulted architecture.
Lectures, spanning a chronological framework from the 6th century BCE to the 4th century CE, will be complemented by site visits to monumental buildings in Rome, Ostia, and Tivoli.
COURSE TOPICS
Ancient masonry: Greek ashlar structures and Roman masonry techniques.
Roofing and thrust systems: Arches, vaults, and domes.
Materials and finishing elements: Ancient stones and marbles from quarry to reuse.
Morphology and syntax of the architectural orders' language.
Vitruvius: how to read and contextualize De Architectura.
Architecture of power: The Imperial Fora in Rome
Architecture of consensus and integration: Entertainment buildings and baths.
Urban residential architecture: Domus, insulae, and villae.
Imperial residences: The Palatine and the Domus Aurea.
Architectural experimentation and ars topiaria: Hadrian’s Villa.
Core Documentation
TESTI OBBLIGATORIPaul Zanker, La città romana, Laterza, 2013.
Corrado Bozzoni, Vittorio Franchetti Pardo, Giorgio Ortolani, Alessandro Viscogliosi, L’architettura nel mondo antico, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006.
Cairoli Fulvio Giuliani, L’edilizia nell’antichità, Carocci, Roma 2021 (o edizioni precedenti).
SEMINARI: LETTURE
Pier Nicola Pagliara, Vitruvio da testo a canone, in Memoria dell'antico nell'arte italiana, III: Dalla tradizione all'archeologia, a cura di Salvatore Settis, Einaudi, Torino 1986, pp. 5-85.
Salvatore Settis, Futuro del 'classico', Einaudi, Torino 2004.
Salvatore Settis, Continuità, distanza, conoscenza: tre usi dell'antico, in Memoria dell'antico nell'arte italiana, III: Dalla tradizione all'archeologia, a cura di Salvatore Settis, Einaudi, Torino 1986, pp. 373-486.
John Summerson, Il linguaggio classico dell’architettura. Dal Rinascimento ai maestri contemporanei, Torino, Einaudi, 1970 (English ed.: The Classical Language of Architecture, London, Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1963).
Christof Thoenes, Gli ordini architettonici: rinascita o invenzione, in Roma e l'antico nell'arte e nella cultura del Cinquecento, a cura di Marcello Fagiolo, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma 1985, pp. 261-271.
Paul Zanker, Augusto e il potere delle immagini, Einaudi, Torino 2006.
Federico Zeri, L'arco di Costantino. Divagazioni sull'antico, Skira, Milano 2004.
Reference Bibliography
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TEXTS: THEORIES: Giorgio Rocco, Introduzione allo studio degli ordini architettonici antichi, Editrice Dedalo Roma, 2005. Giorgio Rocco, Guida alla lettura degli ordini architettonici antichi I. Il dorico, Liguori Editore, Napoli 1994. Giorgio Rocco, Guida alla lettura degli ordini architettonici antichi II. Lo ionico, Liguori Editore, Napoli 2003. Marco Vitruvio Pollione, De Architettura: paragrafi dai libri I-IV (Principi generali; Materiali e loro utilizzo nello sviluppo dell’Architettura e della Società civile; Proporzioni e simmetrie degli edifici sacri e degli ordini architettonici) Paolo Vitti, Con la matita in mano: elogio del vecchio, caro disegno, in Archeostorie. Manuale “vissuto” di archeologia e dintorni", a cura di Cinzia Dal Maso e Francesco Ripanti, Cisalpino, Milano 2015, pp. 69-75. https://www.academia.edu/14486885/2015_Con_la_matita_in_mano_elogio_del_vecchio_caro_disegno Carla Maria Amici, Survey and technical analysis: a must for understanding ancient monuments, in ARCHAIA: Case Studies on Research, Planning, Characterisation, Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, BAR S1877, Oxford 2008, pp. 29-41. https://www.academia.edu/67582135/Survey_and_technical_analySiS_a_muSt_for_underStanding_monumentS TYPES: Pierre Gros, L’architettura romana. Dagli inizi del III secolo a. C. alla fine dell'alto impero. I monumenti pubblici, Longanesi, Milano 2001. https://archive.org/details/GrosP.LArchitetturaRomana_201608 TECHNIQUES: Jean-Pierre Adam, L’arte di costruire presso i romani. Materiali e tecniche, Milano, Longanesi, 1990. DICTIONARIES OF ARCHITECTURE: Nikolaus Pevsner, John Fleming, Hugh Honour, Dizionario di architettura, Einaudi, Torino, ultima edizione consigliata (English ed.: Dictionary of Architecture, Harmondsworth UK, Penguin Books, latest edition suggested). James Stevens Curl, Oxford Dictionary of Architecture, Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, latest edition suggested. René Ginouvès, Roland Martin, Dictionnaire méthodique de l’architecture grecque et romaine. Tome I. Matériaux, techniques de construction, techniques et formes du décor, PEFR 84, Rome 1985. https://www.persee.fr/doc/efr_0000-0000_1985_dic_84_1 René Ginouvès, Dictionnaire méthodique de l’architecture grecque et romaine. Tome II. Eléments constructifs: supports, couvertures, aménagements intérieurs, Rome 1992. https://www.persee.fr/doc/efr_0000-0000_1992_dic_84_2 René Ginouvès, Dictionnaire méthodique de l’architecture grecque et romaine. Tome III. Espaces architecturaux, bâtiments et ensembles, Rome 1998. https://www.persee.fr/doc/efr_0000-0000_1998_dic_84_3 ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY BOOK SERIES: Electa, Storia dell’architettura italiana, collana a cura di Giuseppe Positano de Vincentiis: Architettura romana: i grandi monumenti di Roma, a cura di Henner von Hesberg, Paul Zanker, 2009. Architettura romana: Le città d’Italia, a cura di Henner von Hesberg, Paul Zanker, 2012. Da Costantino a Carlo Magno, a cura di Sible de Blaauw, 2010. SUGGESTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Carla Maria Amici, L’utilizzazione delle catene metalliche nei sistemi voltati di età romana, in Archeometallurgia: dalla conoscenza alla fruizione, Bari 2011, pp. 222-238. https://www.academia.edu/1436679/UTILIZZAZIONE_DELLE_CATENE_METALLICHE Janet DeLaine, Structural experimentation: the lintel arch, corbel and tie in western Roman Architecture, in «World Archeology», 21, 3: «Architectural Innovation», Feb., 1990, pp. 407-424. https://www.jstor.org/stable/124838 Cairoli Fulvio Giuliani, Volte e cupola a doppia calotta in età adrianea, in «Römischen Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts» 82, 1985, pp. 329-348. Marie D. Jackson et alii, Mechanical resilience and cementitious processes in Imperial Roman architectural mortar, in «PNAIS», 111, 52, 2014: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1417456111 Lynne C. Lancaster, Materials and Construction of the Pantheon in Relation to the Developments in Vaulting in Antiquity, in The Pantheon in Rome: Contributions to the Conference Bern (Bern, november 9-12, 2006), a cura di Gerd Graßhof, Michael Heinzelmann, Markus Wäfler, Universität Bern, Bern 2009, pp. 117-125. https://www.academia.edu/3476000/Materials_and_Construction_of_the_Pantheon_in_Relation_to_the_Developments_in_Vaulting_in_Antiquity Giorgio Ortolani, Lavorazione di Pietre e Marmi nel Mondo Antico, in Marmi antichi, (Materiali della cultura artistica, 1), a cura di Gabriele Borghini, De Luca, Roma 1989, pp. 19-42. Giorgio Ortolani, Le Terme dei Romani disegnate da Andrea Palladio, Roma 2009. https://www.academia.edu/12267864/Le_Terme_dei_Romani_disegnate_da_Andrea_Palladio_ed_Ottavio_Bertotti_Scamozzi Rossella Rea, Heinz-Jürgen Beste, Lynne C. Lancaster, Il cantiere del Colosseo, in «Römische Mitteilungen», 109. 2002, pp. 341-375. https://www.academia.edu/440373/Il_cantiere_del_Colosseo The Pantheon From Antiquity to the Present, edited by Tod Marder, Mark Wilson Jones, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge MA 2015. Alessandro Viscogliosi, I Fori imperiali nei disegni d'architettura del primo Cinquecento: ricerche sull'architettura e l'urbanistica di Roma, Gangemi Editore, Roma 2000. Paolo Vitti, Building Roman Greece. Innovation in Vaulted Construction in the Peloponnese, Roma 2016. Mark Wilson Jones, Who Built the Pantheon? Agrippa, Hadrian, Trajan and Apollodorus, in Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy, a cura di T. Opper, British Museum Research Publication 175, London, 2013, pp. 31-49. https://www.academia.edu/14759478/_Who_Built_the_Pantheon_Agrippa_Hadrian_Trajan_and_Apollodorus_in_Hadrian_Art_Politics_and_Economy_ed_Thorsten_Opper_British_Museum_Research_Publication_175_London_2013_31_49 Fikret K. Yegül, Bath and Bathing in Classical Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge MA 1996. Pierre Gros - Mario Torelli, Storia dell'urbanistica. Il mondo romano, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2007 (nuova ed. aggiornata). Maurizio Bettini, William M. Short (a cura di), Con i Romani. Un'antropologia della cultura antica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2016. Tessa Canella, L'impero di Costantino e i luoghi sacri, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014. Roberto Meneghini, Riccardo Santangeli Valenzani, I Foi imperiali, Roma, Carocci, 2023. Roma altomedievale. Paesaggio urbano, società e cultura (secoli V-X), a cura di Riccardo Santangeli Valenzani, Roma, Carocci, 2023. Daniele Manacorda, Roma. Il racconto di due città, Roma, Carocci, 2022.Attendance
ATTENDANCE POLICY Attendance is mandatory for at least 75% of the classes, including both traditional in-class teaching activities and on-site sessions, as well as seminar activities, in accordance with academic regulations. Students who may have difficulty attending classes due to work commitments must inform the instructor by the end of October and agree on additional reading materials. Requests can be made in person or via email; in the latter case, it is crucial to ensure that a response from the instructor has been received.Type of evaluation
FINAL EXAM AND EVALUATION METHOD The final exam is oral and individual and covers the entire course program, including the reference bibliography, PowerPoint presentations, and additional teaching materials provided during the course (as well as any exercises conducted during the course). No midterm tests are foreseen. The final grade is out of 30/30. During the exam, students must demonstrate knowledge of the subject and the ability to critically interpret the topics, correctly placing them within their historical context and analyzing the key features of the most significant buildings and architectural orders, also through schematic sketches. The final discussion may take place through the presentation of the topics covered in the lessons and the recognition and commentary of one or more images related to the buildings described in class or through the presentation of graphic works produced during the course, possibly linked to further studies carried out in other courses or within the thesis laboratory. A good use of specific terminology will be crucial for achieving a fully positive evaluation.