080017 VO The Taj Mahal in the Indian and Islamic Architectural Tradition (2013W)

The lectures will move along the lines of the special methodology adopted by Ebba Koch. Art history's technique of formal analysis is combined with a reading of textual sources, and in considering elements of the aesthetics of art, an architectural form, building type, garden and urban design an understanding of the Mughal period will be formed. This approach will uncover aspects of Mughal culture which were never recorded, but expressed only in architecture and the arts. Thus art and architecture emerge as a means of communication, through a topos of symbols and like language and literature represent vital clues in the study of the cultural, religious and political history of the Mughal empire.
The formal analysis is based on the first survey of the entire Taj Mahal complex and its urban context ever undertaken by Ebba Koch with the Indian architect Richard A. Barraud (1995-2005). It includes a reconstruction of the not preserved parts. Film documentaries will complete the picture.