Construction History is not just a ‘specialized’ form of research in architectural history. By dealing with construction cultures and processes, and with the evolution of the mechanics of structures, it provides architects and researchers with perspectives on the construction site, on the building’s physical configuration, and on the professional figures that operate in the building professions. An introduction to construction history is therefore useful to all those who are interested in structural conception, in construction practices, in architectural technologies, and in understanding how building traditions and techniques interact and are incorporated in buildings, both ancient and modern. In Europe, and in the ever expanding field of cultural heritage, construction history is also directly linked to the expertise and skills needed in operating in the built environment and on historical buildings, both ‘ordinary’ and monumental. The course, configured as a 4 (history) + 2 (mechanics of structures) credit course, will introduce students to selected problems and issues in construction history, following specific themes (e.g. masonry, domes, foundations, stereotomy…). While also considering antiquity and modernity, lectures and case studies will pay special attention to architecture and construction in the early modern period and in the transition to modernity taking place between the 18th and 19th centuries. The course will provide, for approximately 3 credits, an introduction to construction history research in a European setting (with emphasis on France, England and Italy), based upon case studies and specific readings. About 50% of the course will be dedicated to the analysis of specific themes, or case studies, in an interdisciplinary manner: e.g., foundations / vaults / the analysis of a single buildings or construction sites, with selected visits. In-course assignments and readings will test students’ writing and drawing skills. And while the course isn’t strictly about the history of structural mechanics, the collaboration with structural engineering will introduce students to specific problems in the interpretation of structural behaviour and to the historical development of structural theories. Students will be asked to participate actively in the course, with the analysis of one or more specific case studies, involving both the understanding of archival documents, the reconstruction of building processes and the close observation of existing historical structures.

Students completing the course will be: - aware of the aims and methodologies of research in construction history, especially as applied to traditional construction methods (from antiquity to the 19th century); - competent enough to examine a building and-or a historical site, from the point of view of structural conception, historical construction techniques, and material cultures; - fully briefed on the interdisciplinary nature of construction history, with a specific focus on the interaction between architectural history and structural mechanics.

There are no specific prerequisites, beyond those common to all master students having passed basic courses in architectural history, building technology and structural analysis. A prerequisite is in the interest in the relationship between historical architecture, construction and structures.

The course is largely based on lectures, sometimes with invited speakers, and in combination with a certain number of well-prepared site visits. Among the themes of the lectures are: The present state of research in Constr. History / ‘classical’ authors from Rondelet to Choisy / modern research in Italy, Benvenuto to Giuffré; and in Europe, Heyman to Huerta and beyond / Masonry construction in a historical perspective / Stone and stereotomy / Vaults, arches, domes / Iron and metal in pre-modern architecture / Refinement and comfort: the control of air and light in historical construction / when modern science meets the construction site: "experimental" constructions in the European enlightenment / Case studies and site visits, from the Baroque to the Nineteenth century.

Our proposal approaches Construction History as a ‘bundle’ of problems and disciplines, subject to historical analysis and interpretation: from architecture to social sciences, to engineering.

The course is largely based on lectures (see: course topics), sometimes with invited speakers, and in combination with a certain number of site visits.

Further bibliography, with Italian, French, Spanish optional readings will be provided during the course. Among the suggested readings: A. Choisy, L'art de bâtir chez les romains 1873, L’art de bâtir chez les byzantins 1883, Histoire de l'Architecture 1899 A. Picon, French Architects and Engineers in the age of Enlightenment, Cambridge, 2007 J.-P. Adam, Roman building, ed. Routledge 1999 J. Heyman, Structural analysis: a historical approach, Cambridge 1998 E. Benvenuto, An Introduction to the History of Structural Mechanics, Springer, 1991 A. Becchi e F. Foce, Degli archi e delle volte, Marsilio, Venezia, 2002 A. Giuffrè (C. Tocci, C. Carocci, eds.), Leggendo il libro delle antiche architetture. Aspetti statici del restauro, saggi 1985-1997, Gangemi 2010 Construction History (review), 1993-present Useful digital materials are available on the institutional sites of the following societies: - Construction History Society - Société Francophone de Histoire de la Construction - Instituto Juan de Herrera

Modalità di esame: Prova scritta (in aula); Elaborato scritto individuale; Elaborato scritto prodotto in gruppo;

Exam: Written test; Individual essay; Group essay;

... The course development and grading system will be conditioned by the number of students. Two options are possible: A relatively low (<30) number of students will allow for more on-site visits and for the development of specific papers/posters (50% overall of the course evaluation; individual or in small groups), that will be discussed and graded separately from a final, individual written test (open questions) on the lectures and readings. A higher number of students would shift the evaluation process to a more articulated final exam, written (70-80%). Shorter in-course papers (20-30% of the overall grade), eventually assigned to small groups, will be in any case assigned and evaluated.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.