History of Spanish Architecture

Course Information

Program(s):

Madrid - Language & Area Studies

Discipline(s):

Art History

Terms offered:

Fall, Spring

Credits:

Language of instruction:

Spanish

Contact Hours:

Prerequisites:

This course is of an introductory nature, it does not require any previous knowledge in the History of Architecture or Spanish History.

Description:

This course provides an outline of the History of Spanish Architecture from Roman to present times. It will deal with the main architectural styles present in the Spanish Peninsula and its most celebrated examples taking into account the historical, social and cultural background in which they were produced. The overall learning goal of the course is to learn how to look at a building using its own language, and analyzing its style, function and meaning. At the end of the course students will have a clear vision of the evolution of architecture in Spain, recognizing its main periods and examples, and being able to analyse it in terms of the political and cultural background in which it was conceived and in comparison with that of other European and American countries. This course seeks to develop perceptual and expressive abilities in order to see a building as a whole.

Attendance policy:

Attendance is mandatory for all IES Abroad classes, including course-related excursions. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical or family emergencies. If a student misses more than two classes in any course half a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Seven absences in any course will result in a failing grade.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the course students will be able to:

Analyze a building using its specific architectural and stylistic vocabulary.
Students will gain a deeper understanding on a building’s meaning and the specific Spanish historical and cultural background in which it was conceived.
They will be able to compare it with other examples of similar characteristics in Europe and in their own countries.

Method of presentation:

Classroom teaching combines lectures illustrated with powerpoint images with visits to the most important buildings and sites of Madrid. Thanks to this visits students will have an extraordinary opportunity to appreciate by themselves the architecture of different periods and styles, such as the Plaza Mayor, the Palacio Real, the Museo del Prado, the Puerta de Alcalá, the Palacio de Cristal, the enlargement of the Museo Reina Sofía, Caixa Forum.

Field study:

Plaza Mayor and Plaza de la Villa
Palacio Real de Madrid
Paseo del Prado and Museo del Prado
Palacio de Velázquez
Palacio de Cristal del Retiro
Palacio de Comunicaciones
Círculo de Bellas Artes
Banco Español del Río de la Plata
Moncola
Caixa Forum
Museo Reina Sofía’s enlargement
Special Field Study: The installations of Matadero -one of the most exciting cultural centers in Madrid, dedicated to modern arts (music, cinema, theatre, photography, video, design and creativity).

Required work and form of assessment:

Midterm Exam (20%): The first midterm exam will consist on 4 powerpoint images of buildings already seen in class. Students will have 10 minutes in order to analyze their style and function, and the historical conditions in which they were produced.
Paper (30%): At the end of the term students will deliver a paper (six pages double spaced) analyzing and comparing two architectural examples of their choice. The buildings can be of the same or two different architects, but at least one of them should have been by a Spanish architect. The paper is a personal writing and it should follow the general rules of an academic publishing, with quotation marks, notes and bibliography. Deadline: Wednesday’ class, 10th December.
Participation (10%): By participation it is meant that students will have an active role and will submit small comments on buildings seen during the visits, a text given in class or a video indicated in advance.
Final Exam (40%): The final exam will also consist on 4 powerpoint images of buildings already seen in class. Students will have 10 minutes time to analyze each one according to its specific style and function and taking into account the historical and cultural context in which it was erected.

content:

Session	Content	Required Readings
Session 1	Presentation y orientation.	None
Session 2	Introduction. Concept of architecture: nature, materials and main techniques. Tradition and innovation.	None
Session 3	Roman Spain. The process of romanization and its repercussions: civil projects and infrastructures (streets and roads, the bridge of Córdoba, the lighthouse of La Coruña, the aqueduct of Segovia, Mérida’s theatre)	Romanización de Hispania
Session 4	The beginnings of medieval Spain. Pre-Romanesque architecture. Islam: (Mosque of Córdoba), Judaism and religious cohabitation (Toledo: Mosque of Cristo de la luz and Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca).	G. Borrás, El Islam: de Córdoba al mudéjar, Madrid, Ed. Silex, 1994
Session 5	Romanesque: the Pilgrimway to Santiago de Compostela.	Avance Preliminar - The Camino Documentary
Session 6	Beginnings of an urban culture: the gothic cathedrals of León and Burgos.	Alfonso Muñoz Cosme, Arquitectura y vidrieras: evolución del siglo XIII al XIX, 26-44, esp. 26-29 Félix Benito Martín, Aspectos históricos de la cathedral de León. La influencia de las catedrales europeas, 45-54 Conservacion de vidrieras historicas
Session 7	The Nazari World and the Miracle of La Alhambra.	AAVV, La Alhambra y el Generalife, Guía histórico-artística, Granada, Ed. Universidad de Granada, 2006 La Alhambra y el Generalife
Session 8	Renaissance. Plateresque architecture: San Marcos de León and the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos in Santiago. High Renaissance: Palace of Charles V in Granada. Mannerism and the Escorial.	Juan Rafael de la Cuadra Blanco, Arquitectura e Historia Sagrada. Nuevas consideraciones sobre la idea de El Escorial y el templo de Jerusalén, Cuadernos de Arte e Iconografía, XXII/43, 2003
Session 9	Baroque: the Obradoiro façade of Santiago de Compostela’s catedral and the Cartuja of Granada.	None
Session 10	Field Study: Madrid de los Austrias. Plaza Mayor and Plaza de la Villa	None
Session 11	Review for the Midterm Exam	None
Session 12	MIDTERM EXAM
Session 13	Field Study: Palacio Real de Madrid	José Luis Sancho, El Palacio Real de Madrid, Ed. Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 2004
Session 14	Field Study: Neoclasicism. Paseo del Prado and Museo del Prado	None
Session 15	Modernism and Eclecticism: Antoni Gaudí and Barcelona (1852-1926), Antonio Palacios (1874-1945) in Madrid.	AAVV, Antonio Gaudí, Taschen, 2009
Session 16	Field Study: La arquitectura del hierro: Palacio de Velázquez and Palacio de Cristal del Retiro
Session 17	Field Study: Antonio Palacios: Palacio de Comunicaciones, Círculo de Bellas Artes and Banco Español del Río de la Plata (headquarters of the Instituto Cervantes nowadays)	None
Session 18	Rationalism (Sert and Lacasa, Spanish pavilion of the International Exhibition Paris, 1937).	Sofía Diéguez Patao, La Generación del 25. Primera arquitectura moderna en Madrid, Ed. Cátedra, Madrid 1997
Session 19	Francoist architecture: Ministerio del aire, Arco de triunfo de Moncloa.	None
Session 20	Course-related excursion: TBD	None
Session 21	The Guggenheim Museum and the so-called “Bilbao effect”.	None
Session 22	Exchanging places: Spanish architects abroad (Moneo, Miralles, Calatrava), and foreign architects in Spain (Gehry, Nouvel, Herzog & de Meuron, Lamela/Rogers).	Lectura: AAVV, Spain Builds. Arquitectura en España 1975-2010, Ed. Arquitectura Viva, Madrid 2010
Session 23	Field Study: Caixa Forum and Museo Reina Sofía’s enlargement	None
Session 24	Review for the Final Exam. Paper deadline	None