[MUSIC PLAYING] My name is Krystyna Sznurkowski. Welcome to Architectural History I. This semester, we will be looking at the origins of architecture-- the very first built structures, the very earliest cities-- and looking at the builders who built them, the substance of the architecture, and the experience of those places, and also their legacies-- their relevance in our modern world today. 

So a little bit about myself. I graduated from University of Florida at the School of Architecture up there, and I live and work in Sarasota. Sarasota itself has been very rich architectural history, a very young architectural history compared to what we'll be looking at this semester. But one of the things I've learned working in Sarasota is that it's ever more important to understand where your built context came from so that you can better built into it and build for the future. 

So over the course of this semester, we will be studying architectural history-- a much longer time span, a longer timeline than the history of Sarasota, in which I work. So over the course of the next 15 weeks, you will learn, not only to identify building types and styles and materialities and structural innovations-- the way these ancient builders worked-- but also learn to understand the importance of the works-- how they came about, how they reflect a character of place, a character of a culture and a people-- at both the scale of a house and an urban context-- the empire of ancient Rome. So the smallest and the largest of scales. 

So the structure of this online course will be made up of a couple different parts and pieces. There will be online lecture presentations, which are really the stories behind the buildings and the cultures-- the whole big picture. And then there will be assigned readings, of course, and case studies-- supplemental information that will be posted online for you guys to review and use hand-in-hand with the lecture presentations. 

The term paper. So your overall semester project will be a written paper, and this will be your opportunity to present your understanding of the importance of a particular site or structure-- demonstrating, not only your specific understanding of that place, but your ability to look at architecture and the built past with a new perspective. So this is the foundation of your career as a young architect centered on your studio work, but also grounded in the study and understanding of architectural history. So I hope that you developed a love and passion for architectural history-- the same as I have through my education and practice. 

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