Visitors around the world have travelled to Europe to see the tall spires and stained glass windows of the continent’s Gothic cathedrals: in Cologne, Chartres, Milan, Florence, York and Paris. The trappings of Gothic architecture have become shorthand for “medieval Europe”.
Yet in Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe (Hurst: 202 ... Show More
Sep 6
Marita Sturken, "Terrorism in American Memory: Memorials, Museums, and Architecture in the Post-9/11 Era" (NYU Press, 2022)
Terrorism in American Memory argues that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and all that followed in its wake were the primary force shaping United States politics and culture in the post-9/11 era. Marita Sturken maintains that during the past two decades, when the country was subject ... Show More
28m 58s
Sep 1
Aonghus MacKechnie, "Edinburgh: City of Romanticism" (Lund Humphries, 2026)
Romanticism made Scotland famous. It critically shaped the course of Scottish culture, while impacting on cultures elsewhere and inaugurating the country’s still-flourishing and lucrative tourist industry. This book is about Edinburgh’s most emblematic architecture over the long ... Show More
48m 31s
Aug 22
Beth Weinstein, "Architecture and Choreography: Collaborations in Dance, Space and Time" (Routledge, 2024)
Architecture and Choreography: Collaborations in Dance, Space and Time (Routledge, 2024) examines the field of archi-choreographic experiments: unique interdisciplinary encounters and performed events generated through collaborations between architects and choreographers. Forty c ... Show More
51m 51s
Jan 2025
Islamesque: How Islam Shaped Western Skylines with Diana Darke
When commentators talk about the relationship, often fraught, between Islam and the west, most start with the mass migration from the Indian subcontinent, North Africa and Middle East to western countries. A few years back, the British foreign secretary announced the greatest cul ... Show More
1h 4m
May 2018
21: Global materials and techniques of Islamic Architecture with Christian Hedrick (GAHTC)
Muqarnas Vault, Masjid-i Shah/Imam, Isfahan. Source: Daniel C. Waugh, Courtesy of Archnet.org We talk with Architectural historian Christian Hedrick, currently working at the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT as a researcher, visiting lecturer at the School of Architecture at ... Show More
39m 21s
Sep 2025
TLDR Medieval Architecture
Medieval European architecture is defined by two major successive styles: Romanesque and Gothic. Romanesque architecture (c. 1000–1200 CE) is characterized by massive, thick walls, rounded arches, and a heavy, fortress-like appearance. In the 12th century, Gothic architecture int ... Show More
13m 18s
Oct 2016
The 12th Century Renaissance
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the changes in the intellectual world of Western Europe in the 12th Century, and their origins. This was a time of Crusades, the formation of states, the start of Gothic architecture, a reconnection with Roman and Greek learning and their Arabic de ... Show More
49m 23s
Nov 2017
8: Architecture and the Islamic World Today with Mariam Kamara and Yasaman Esmaili
Architects from Niger and Iran, Mariam Kamara and Yasaman Esmaili, discuss their award-winning work, the challenges of practicing globally, and the difficulties and rewards of learning to translate across languages and cultures via architecture. Topics include: feminism and archi ... Show More
48m 50s
Sep 2023
Michelle Karnes, "Medieval Marvels and Fictions in the Latin West and Islamic World" (U Chicago Press, 2022)
Marvels like enchanted rings and sorcerers’ stones were topics of fascination in the Middle Ages, not only in romance and travel literature but also in the period’s philosophical writing. Rather than constructions of belief accepted only by simple-minded people, Michelle Karnes s ... Show More
31m 24s