History of Built Environment I

This course traces how humans have shaped space — buildings, interiors, cities, landscapes — from Neolithic settlements through the height of Ottoman classical architecture, framing each era as a response to ritual, power, and material rather than a checklist of styles. Expect weekly readings paired with two short papers, a research essay, a presentation, and a midterm that asks you to actually read buildings as historical arguments. As the first half of the design history sequence in the Interior Architecture curriculum, it builds the visual vocabulary and chronological scaffolding you'll lean on in studio and in ADA 264 the following semester.