La Serenissima: Late Medieval Venice
The Republic of Venice, often referred to as La Serenissima (‘the most serene’), was a wealthy and powerful city-state in which art, architecture and intellectual pursuits could blossom, at a distance from the control and censorship of the Papacy.
Venetian traders dominated the Mediterranean Sea and brought back Byzantine, Gothic and Islamic cultural references from trade routes established throughout Europe, North Africa and into Asia. This, along with the challenge of Venice’s waterlogged topography and the density of the city, brought an idiosyncratic style to Venice’s architecture that persisted through its Renaissance period.
Select an example of Venetian architecture built between 1300 and 1600 AD and find out what it can tell us about the complex relationship between architecture and society. How has the architecture itself been impacted by its context of politics, power, economy and cultural influences? And how, in turn, has it influenced society and architecture more widely?
Medieval architectures
The skylines of many cities and towns are still dominated by mosques and churches/cathedrals that were built in the Middle Ages. In central and northern Europe the Gothic cathedral was an amalgam of many pre-existing elements that were purposefully reorganized and redressed.
In Islamic architecture, the mosque showed a unique adaptability which resulted in versatile forms and organising principles. But how do these elements come together in individual buildings?
To answer this question, you must choose an example of medieval architecture (Islamic, Byzantine, Romanesque or Gothic) and study it in the context of its period, place, the political reality and the cultural landscape.
Ancient Roman architecture outside Rome
Ancient Roman architecture was not confined within the city of Rome. Carried by the military and commercial dominance of the empire it reached areas such as Eastern Europe, Greece and Asia Minor, North Africa and the Middle East.
In many of these places great civilisations and local traditions had existed and had flourished for centuries.
How were Roman architecture and planning viewed, accommodated or altered in these foreign lands, and how was the universal system that Rome sought to establish influenced or subverted by these exchanges?
To answer this question, you must choose an example of Ancient Roman architecture outside the city of Rome and study it in the context of its period and location, the political reality and the cultural landscape.
