Class 1: Why Art & Architecture Matter – Foundations of Creativity

Themes: Introduction + Timeline Overview

• Icebreaker: Share your favorite building or artwork and why
• Key Concepts: Aesthetics, symbolism, form vs. function
• Mini Lecture: What is art? What is architecture?
• Visual Timeline: A sweeping look across global styles from ancient to contemporary
• Outcome: Students begin to view their environments and surroundings with a more critical and appreciative eye

Class 2: Power, Belief & the Ancient World

Themes: Ancient Civilizations + Sacred Spaces

• Focus Sites: Pyramids of Giza, Ziggurats, Parthenon, Colosseum, Hagia Sophia, Chartres Cathedral
• Key Concepts: Monumentality, religious symbolism, early engineering
• Discussion: How architecture reflects and reinforces belief systems
• Mini Activity: Sketch your own sacred space or meaningful gathering place
• Outcome: Understanding how architecture encodes belief, status, and community

Class 3: The Renaissance and the Rise of the Individual

Themes: Renaissance + Humanism

• Focus Artists: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Brunelleschi
• Key Concepts: Perspective, harmony, anatomy, individualism
• Visual Analysis: The School of Athens, the Sistine Chapel, the Duomo
• Activity: Perspective drawing or “Renaissance selfie” using symbolism and style
• Outcome: Students grasp how the Renaissance transformed art from craft to intellectual pursuit

Class 4: Emotion & Excess – Baroque to Romanticism

Themes: Baroque + Early Modern

• Focus Artists/Architects: Caravaggio, Bernini, Rubens, Gaudí, Eiffel
• Key Concepts: Opulence, drama, theatricality, movement
• Discussion: How artists and architects reacted to revolutions, religion, and industrialization
• Outcome: Understanding how emotional and political currents shaped style and innovation

Class 5: Modernism to Mid-Century – Art for a Changing World

Themes: Industrial Revolution to Mid-20th Century

• Movements: Bauhaus, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Brutalism
• Key Figures: Le Corbusier, Kandinsky, Mondrian
• Key Concepts: Abstraction, functionality, “form follows function”
• Discussion: What does “modern” mean, and how do we feel about it today?
• Optional Mini Activity: Design a modernist house or public space using abstract forms
• Outcome: Students analyze how 20th-century art/architecture redefined beauty and purpose

Class 6: Global Voices & Final Reflections

Themes: Contemporary Art, Activism, and Sustainability

• Focus Figures: Zaha Hadid, Banksy, Libeskind, Indigenous and global artists
• Key Concepts: Postmodernism, sustainability, activism in design
• Visual Exploration: Street art, eco-buildings, non-Western influences
• Final Project Presentations:
  • A 2–3 minute talk on a favorite building, architect, or artwork, or
  • A creative response (drawing, poem, model, collage)

Wrap-Up Discussion: What’s next in art and architecture? What will you now notice differently in your surroundings?