Lectures

Building history I covers the period from classical Greek antiquity to medieval architecture. The principal topics include construction issues such as Greek megalithic buidling, Roman mortar-and-rubble construction, and vaulting.

Within the Vitruvian and Albertian triad of firmitas, utilitas and venustas, we focus on the first two topics, whereas the last topic (deciphering the "meaning" of architecture) stands at the heart of the "architectural history" lectures. The present lecture contributes essentially to deepening knowledge about historic constructions, an indispensable precondition for buildig within existing fabric.
- buildings of Greek antiquity as examples of construction with huge stone blocks
- Roman buildungs as examples of building with small materials, strict functional dispositionn, and evolution of the art of vaulting
- late antique and early Christian buildings: discovering interior space, developing new paradigms for religious architecture, construction wide-span roofs
- early and high medieval construction, continuing antique traditions, revival of dressed stone and vaulting
- small buildings, notably rural housing
- the medieval monastery

Course catalogue

This lecture series deals with the history of the production of buildings. This history draws heavily on pictorial and archival sources, but the lecture will always establish the link to traces observable on site. In that sense, the lecture is an introduction to the wide topic of "building archeology". Among others, we will cover the following topics:- construction materials, tools and tooling of construction elements
- material flow and economic boundary conditions of the construction site
- construction site technology and construction machinery (scaffolding, cranes, etc.)
- history of building production
The autumn semester is primarily dedicated to building with stone: from quarrying to dressing and lifting. We consider tools, construction site technology such as scaffolding, centring and other temporary works, cranes. We study all types of stone constructions, from foundations to walls to vaults, from concrete-like rubble stone through small dressed stone to huge monoliths.
The spring term lecture, conversely, is mostly dedicated to timber construction and to the evolution of structural concepts over time.

Course catalogue