Course detail

The Cult of Monuments

FA-CLM-TEAcad. year: 2026/2027

The seminar focuses on local Brno monuments, their classification, history, and context. Through the on-site study of specific buildings (particularly from the 19th to the 21st centuries), students learn about current developments in approaches to monument protection in various parts of the city. During the semester, they have the opportunity to become familiar with various types of buildings of different sizes – public, residential, commercial, industrial complexes, etc.

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

3

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Mgr. Zuzana Ragulová

Department

Department of Theory (UT)

Offered to foreign students

The home faculty only

Entry knowledge

Not applicable.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Students are required to attend classes and participate in discussions.
The seminar will conclude with students’ presentations on the given topic, which form a compulsory part of the final assessment.

Aims

  • Understand key preservation theories and their historical context.
  • Analyze the impact of historic preservation movements.
  • Develop critical thinking and research skills in architectural history, theory, and preservation.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Allais, Lucia. Designs of destruction: The making of monuments in the Twentieth Century. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2018. (EN)
Arrhenius, Thordis. Fragile Monument on Conservation and Modernity. London: Artifice, 2012. (EN)
Carpo, Mario. “The Postmodern Cult of Monuments.” Future Anterior 4, no. 2 (2007). (EN)
ColumbiaBooks on Architecture and the City, 2016. (EN)
Forster, Kurt W. “Monument/Memory and the Mortality of Architecture.” Oppositions 25 (1982). (EN)
Choay, Françoise. The Invention of the Historic Monument. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. (EN)
Koolhaas, Rem, Jorge Otero-Pailos, and Jordan Carver. Preservation is overtaking us. New York: (EN)
Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Architecture: Meaning and Place: Selected Essays. New York, NY: Rizzoli International Publications, 1988. (EN)
Olin, Margaret. “The Cult of Monuments as a State Religion in Late 19th Century Austria,” Wiener Jahrbuch Für Kunstgeschichte 38, no. 1 (1985): 177–98, https://doi.org/10.7767/wjk-1985-0107 (EN)
Otero-Pailos, Jorge, Erik Langdalen, and Thordis Arrhenius. Experimental preservation. Zürich, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers, 2016. (EN)
Riegl, Alois. “The Modern Cult of Monuments: Its Character and Its Origin,” Oppositions 25 (1982). (EN)
Ruskin, John. The Seven Lamps of Architecture. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1884. First published in 1849 in London: Smith, Elder, and Co. (EN)
Vidler, Anthony. “Air War and Architecture.” In Ruins of Modernity. Durham NC: Duke University Press, 2010. (EN)
Witt, Andrew. Formulations: Architecture, mathematics, culture. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2021. (EN)
Young, Michael. Reality modeled after images: Architecture and aesthetics after the Digital image. New York, NY: Routledge, 2022. (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme BE_A+U Bachelor's 3 year of study, winter semester, elective
    4 year of study, winter semester, elective
  • Programme BX_A+U Bachelor's 1 year of study, winter semester, elective
  • Programme NE_A+U Master's 1 year of study, winter semester, elective

Type of course unit

 

Seminar

26 hours, compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Mgr. Zuzana Ragulová

Syllabus

Part I: The Modern Cult of Monuments

  1. Introduction: Development of Historical Monument
  2. Alois Riegl and the Cultural Context of fin-de-siècle Vienna
  3. Relation of Art History and Preservation in Riegl’s Theory
  4. The Modern Cult of Monuments

Part II: The Cult of Ruins

  1. 5. Anamnesis of the Cult
  2. Return to Memory and Monuments
  3. The Cult of Ruins
  4. Application of Age Value in Architecture

Part III: The Digital Cult

  1. Monuments in the Digital Age
  2. Transformation of Riegl’s theory into Digital
  3. Digital Documentation Instruments for Preservation
  4. Representational Shift of Monuments
  5. Digital Preservation and Generative AI