Architectural Art and Design: An Exploration on the Impact of the Global Ancient Civilization Heritage on the Built Environment

Course 3: Architectural Art and Design: An Exploration on the Impact of the Global Ancient Civilization Heritage on the Built Environment

I. Course Description

What is modern, and what is pre-modern? Are they merely stages of progress linked by the linear march of history? Modernization has brought great contributions to human architecture, from high-rise buildings to modern urban planning, which has provided a better living environment and more convenience for human beings. Modern science and technology and material innovation have promoted the rapid development of architectural design and creation, making architecture as an art and science more rich and diverse. However, modernization also brings obstacles to architectural design and creation. Excessive trust in modernization and excessive pursuit of functionality and efficiency lead to the loss of humanistic care and artistic value in many buildings. In the wave of modernization, some traditional architectural skills and cultural inheritance are ignored, leading to the simplification and homogenization of architectural style. Architecture is gradually being seen as goods and engineering, rather than a space for human habitation and creation.

This course will challenge this reductive narrative and definition of modernity and pre-modernity through a history from Neolithic caves to built environments at the beginning of industrialization. Modernity is only one way of seeing the world, and today there are still many alternative and non-modern worldviews present, providing a more complex understanding of the challenges and existence of the planet. Examples involved in the course will be global, and various competing trajectories of change will be listed. One of the objectives of this course is to eliminate the idea that the West has historically led global progress. It will show that there are other ideas and Renaissance of design, craft and art, architecture and environmentalism, which we ignore, and continue to ignore, because we believe that modernity in the West is the sole destiny of the world.

II. Professor Introduction

Ijlal Muzaffar – Tenured Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design

Professor Ijlal Muzaffar completed his PhD on the history, theory and criticism of modern architecture and the formation of the Third World at MIT. Professor Muzaffars main research areas include the history of globalization, third world development, and the history and theory of modern architecture and urban planning. The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is a top1 art school in the United States, also known as the Harvard University in the field of design. Ijlal holds a tenure position in the Department of Art History and Design Theory at the university, but also the head of the department and the head of the graduate program. He can be said to be the “trump card in the trump card” and has a high voice and academic recognition.

III. Syllabus

1. Architecture, cultural environment and geographical civilization in indigenous societies
2. Disappearing civilization: Olmec and Mayan civilization in South America
3. The earliest building in extreme terrain: Mesopotamia
4. Mysterious Egyptian underground architecture: To reveal the mysteries of the pyramids
5. The influence of culture on architecture: Greek and Persian civilization
6. The influence of political culture on architecture: Roman and Chinese civilization
7. Space and Religion: The spread and development of religion on the Silk Road
8. Building materials and Religion: Early Islam
9. Architectural Design and Religion: Gothic architecture and early Christianity
10. Global Renaissance and modern civilization before colonial times