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ARCT10090

Academic Year 2025/2026

Perspectives: History and Theory of the Built Environment II (ARCT10090)

Subject:
Architecture
College:
Engineering & Architecture
School:
Architecture, Plan & Env Pol
Level:
1 (Introductory)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Samantha Martin
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This is a continuation of the autumn module (ARCT10070) insofar as it provides a broad overview of major moments in the history of the built environment. Like its sister module, this course engages with architectural theory as well, looking at how buildings and landscapes have shaped perceptions and interpretations of buildings over time.

This course begins as the cusp of the modern period, with the early Renaissance, and then travels across both place and time, considering how such things as trade, migration, religion and war have helped (or hindered) the dissemination of architectural ideas.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

1. Ability to write clearly, concisely and effectively about architecture.
2. Ability observe, assess and evaluate relevant information to make conclusions about buildings, cities and landscapes.
3. Understand build and appreciation of relationships and links between different cultures, including Global and non-Western architectural traditions.
4. Ultimately, to deepen understanding of the meaning and significance of architecture in ways that will inform individual design processes.

Indicative Module Content:

Core topics include:
Renaissance urbanism
Connections between East and West: the Silk Road
Patterns and legacies: Transatlantic connections

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

18
Autonomous Student Learning

90
Total

108

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Weekly lectures
Reading and critically summarising readings
Building Observation
Critical Writing
Building Research

This module emphasises the development of critical, independent thinking in the undergraduate curriculum.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): Comparative Writing Task Week 7 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
25
 No
Exam (In-person): End of trimester Exam: 2 hour, in-person. Two essay questions relating to the material from the lectures; and one question based on lectures but including an unknown building, landscape or site. End of trimester
Duration:
2 hr(s)
 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
75
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Not yet recorded

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 Wed 11:00 - 12:50
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