Introduction to the History and Theory of Architecture
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this survey of global architectural history from prehistoric societies through the sixteenth century. The course treats buildings, cities, and environments as products of the cultural, economic, religious, and climatic forces that shaped them, moving region by region rather than following a single Western timeline. Students get an introduction to basic design principles and methods of architectural analysis alongside the historical material, learning to read a building's form as evidence of the society that produced it. Materials include lecture notes, readings, and assignments from the MIT course, available at no cost under a Creative Commons license. There is no instructor interaction or certificate, but the full syllabus and study materials are provided for independent study of how architecture developed across civilizations before 1600.