Learning to Look at Western Architecture

This course is designed to enable you to 'read' the architecture of the Western world in a critically informed way. You will learn to recognise and differentiate between the major architectural styles of the western tradition and will thus gain a greater understanding of the way that buildings are built, and why they look the way they do.

Architecture is the quintessential 'public' art form. The work of architects surrounds us all, every day of our lives, shaping and conditioning our experience of the world in ways which are as subtle as they are inescapable. Yet the practice of architects does not take place - and has never taken place - in a vacuum: architects continually engage with the architectural styles and practices of the past, shaping the architectural forms of the present from the vast reservoir of forms and styles bequeathed by the western architectural tradition.

This course aims to give students an introduction and overview of that architectural tradition enabling students to 'read' the architecture of the contemporary built environment in a critically informed way.