Understanding Architecture | Harvard University

How does one understand a work of architecture? We can look to the humanities to help answer this question. For example, identifying a poem's characteristics—its form, rhyme, meter, imagery and so forth—can enrich one's understanding of the poet's artistic intent and the meaning ascribed to the work today. What are the analogous methods for understanding a work of architecture? Through first-hand observations students in this course learn how to analyze a work of architecture. We visit the most significant buildings on the Harvard campus, many of which are among the most important in the world. This is supplemented with review of historic architectural drawings from the Harvard University Archives.