MILITARY ARCHITECTURE

The course aims to provide students with methodological tools and in-depth knowledge in the field of the history of architecture and the city in the modern age from an interdisciplinary perspective. It is aimed, as an optional course, both for students of History of the arts and for students of degree courses in History.
The objectives of this course are: to develop the ability to reflect on the meaning of architecture in the historical context of the time; provide methodological tools for the analysis of sources and architectural works, grasp the relationships of architectural knowledge with the cultural, political and economic system of the time.

1. Knowledge and understanding:
- Provide the understanding of the developments of military architecture in the modern age
- Provide knowledge of the sources related to them
- Provide a firm grounding of the language of the discipline.
2. Skills:
- Students must be able to examine the meaning of military works in the historical context of the time and the history of architecture
- Students must demonstrate a correct use of the language of the discipline in all its practical applications
3. Critical judgement:
- Students must be able to formulate and logically structure analyses, developing a critical approach to the themes and questions discussed in class.
4.Communication skills:
- Students must be able to communicate on specific themes and issues using appropriate terminology.
- Students must be able to logically and coherently organize their thought on themes touched upon by this course.
- Students must be able to interact with one another and with the supervisor in an appropriate and respectful way, in class and on the digital platform.
5. Learning skills:
- Students must be able to consult and critically use the bibliography given througout the course.

This course presumes previous knowledge of the basic thresholds in Italian history and of the history of Architecture. To fill any gaps, students can use the bibliography indicated in the corresponding first level courses.

Military architecture has a prominent position in the history of architecture throughout the modern age and is equally a fundamental aspect of power and society.
The course presents the main problems of fortification starting from the great design and technical innovations introduced in Italy between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; examines the skills of the fortification technicians and architects (also touching the works of Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Leonardo, Bramante, Giuliano and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo); it outlines the relationships between patronage, technicians and soldiers, therefore between architecture, powers and society.

The exam bibliography includes parts of the following reference texts and other in-depth essays. The complete bibliography will be distributed at the beginning of the lessons. Some texts will be available in pdf on moodle. Please note that the lecture notes do not replace the exam bibliography.
Reference texts:
Guerre ed eserciti nell’età moderna, a cura di P. Bianchi e P. Del Negro, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018
Francesco Paolo Fiore, Architettura e arte militare. Mura e bastioni nella cultura del Rinascimento, Roma, Campisano Editore, 2017
Italy And the European Powers. The Impact of War, 1500-1530, ed. by Christine Shaw, Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2006.
The heirs of Archimedes: science and the art of war through the age of Enlightenment, ed. by B. D. Steele, T. Dorland, Cambridge (Massachusetts), The MIT press 2005
P. Del Negro, Guerre ed eserciti da Machiavelli a Napoleone, Roma-Bari, Laterza 2001
Architettura militare nell’Europa del XVI secolo, Atti del convegno di studi (Firenze 25-28 novembre 1986), a cura di C. Cresti, A. Fara, D. Lamberini, Siena, Periccioli 1988.
Nicholas Adams, Simon Pepper, Firearms and fortifications. Military architecture and siege warfare in sixteenth century Siena, Chicago - London, University of Chicago press, 1986

Oral exam. During the exam the student must demonstrate an in-depht knowledge of the themes and aspects touched upon in class and be able to command the appropriate language to discuss about them.

Lctures by the teacher. Students will be asked to discuss readings prepared at home.
If the number of students attending will allow it, the second part of the course will be organized in a seminar form and will constitute a part of the final evaluation.

Italian

Attendance is not mandatory but strongly recommended.

oral