Mar 28, 2024  
Undergraduate Record 2017-2018 
    
Undergraduate Record 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

ARH 3204 - Italy, Spain, & The Ottoman Empire


This course will examine Islamic architecture around the Mediterranean in relation to developments in Italy. Particular problems to be considered in a cross-cultural context include those of geometry and ornament, architectural theory, the role of the architect, and garden design and conception. Also important will be issues such as the visual ideology and cultural politics of empire; and the role of the traveler, merchant and ambassador in cultural exchange. Geographical focus will be on Southern Spain, or Andalusia, on Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire, as well as on various cities and regions of Italy including Venice, Genoa, Rome, Naples and Sicily. In the case of Southern Spain, analysis will focus on the points of contact and tension between the Roman heritage, the architectural achievements of the Nasrid Empire, the Gothic tradition, and the imported Italian style. With regard to the Ottoman Empire, an attempt will be made to understand how an obsessive concern among Italian humanists, political leaders, and popes with the Ottoman threat could coincide with cultural fascination and appropriation.



Credits: 3