Architecture of Knowledge

Architecture can be both a building and a body of knowledge. This seminar investigates the role of buildings (studioli, private and public libraries, academies, museums, and archives) in the shaping of learning activities, in the organization, selection and preservation of knowledge, and in the collection and display of objects. It also considers the spatial organization of interiors and the creation of customized furnishings, such as shelves and cabinets. At the same time, it analyzes how various kinds of knowledge, especially of art and architecture, were accumulated, stored, and organized through the making and collection of drawings, maps, prints, and books. In doing so, it aims to test how buildings could accommodate and shape different structures of knowledge and how, in turn, taxonomic organization and the “architecture of knowledge” could influence the making of buildings and furnishings. The seminar will also be an effective way to observe how these two spheres contributed to the creation of a dominant knowledge over other types of knowledge. The seminar focuses on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a time characterized by expanding global knowledge through intensified information exchange, colonization, and exploration, all of which prompted an increased proliferation of maps, books, and new media for collecting information. These objects were assembled in European libraries, museum and other types of archives. This was also a pivotal period for the trajectory of such disciplines as history and (pre-)archaeology and for the creation of new institutions devoted to learning and knowledge preservation. Through this seminar, students will learn to put the history of art and especially architecture in conversation with the histories of knowledge, of science, of management of information, of books, and of museums and archives. Some classes will take place at the Avery Library.