Architecture History, Theory and Preservation

Arleen Pabón-Charneco holds a PhD from Northwestern University, as well as a JD, MArch and BED from the University of Puerto Rico. With the highest GPA of her graduating class, she obtained the Henry Adams AIA Medal in 1974. Since 1979 she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Puerto Rico and Florida A&M University in the areas of architectural history, architectural theory and philosophy, architectural design and historic preservation. At both institutions she served as assistant and associate Dean. Dr Pabón-Charneco was Puerto Rico’s State Historic Preservation Officer twice. She is a member of the Washington DC Bar, as well as a trustee emeritus of both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust. In addition, she is a corresponding academician of the St Jordi Royal Academy of Fines Arts of Catalonia. A consultant in architectural history, historic preservation and cultural interpretation, she is also an instructor at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida State University.

• Introduction 1. A Fixed Place Under the Sky: The Invention of Architecture 2. Out of The Cave: Neolithic Architecture 3. Rivers of Cultures: Mesopotamian and Egyptian Architecture 4. When the Gods Were Human: Minoan and Mycenaean Architecture 5. Frogs Around a Pond: Architecture in Ancient Greece 6. In the Tuscan Manner: Etruscan Architecture 7. As Many Stars As In The Sky: Roman Architecture 8. One True Faith: Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and Shinto Architecture 9. The Ages in the Middle: Early Medieval and Romanesque Architecture 10. A Strange Region of the Universe: Gothic Architecture 11. Where Freedom Dwells: The City Revisited

"This is a revealing journey throughout the history of architecture from Prehistory to the Middle Ages. Far from a conventional theoretical view, Dr Arleen Pabón-Charneco shares with the readers her comprehensive and profound understanding of the essence and evolution of the human thinking behind the development of the built environment, since the first artifact was built. Understanding the principles and origins of architecture, from this non-linear view of history, will give present and future generations of architects a unique opportunity to learn from architectural precedents by understanding the complexity of humankind aspirations throughout time."Carlos A. Rubio-Cancela, Architect, Puerto Rico State Historic Preservation Officer