Urban Florence: Traveling Across Layers (ISI)

Course Description:

Since the Middle Ages, European cities of ancient Roman foundation developed by transforming and re-using existing architecture and urban fabric. In Italy, this cyclical adaptation of pre-existing structures always flanked the erection of new, innovative architecture. In the 1980s, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) started to include many Italian cities in its list of World Heritage sites (Rome, 1980; Florence, 1982; Venice, 1987; Naples and Siena, 1995.) The need to balance the conservation of the historic city and the life of a modern metropolis, as well as both natural and man-made disasters, forces us to think about issues of preservation. Against the backdrop of the development of architecture in Italy, the course examines historically significant buildings, which have been preserved or adapted for subsequent uses. Historical, technical, and legal aspects of preservation will be considered. Lectures and class discussions will be followed by site visits in Florence and Rome.

This course runs through SRISA's external partners at ISI. SRISA students may take up to 1 course through an external partner.