[caption id="attachment_734" align="alignright" width="300"] Notes from Architectural History class[/caption]

At some point in your architecture education you will be required to take an architectural history class, most likely many classes. It can be hard to remember so many different buildings, architects, periods, etc. Some people might find this class boring or unnecessary, but I found it to be extremely interesting. Studying history is like going back in time and putting yourself in some great periods of architecture. But I understand that not everybody feels the same way as me, so below I list some tips on how to get the most out of history class.
Get the big picture
Don't just worry about what the building looks like and who built in when, try to figure out what was going on in the world at the time. This will help you understand not only why the building is important, but it will also help you understand how they all relate to each other. You will find that there are many buildings of the same period that were all built for the same reason. Maybe it was an effort by the rich and powerful churches to show their power, or maybe it was a result of a new technology. It is easier to remember the buildings when you understand them in context.
Get the anecdotal story
Beyond the big picture, each building has a story to tell. There are always interesting things that happen during the design or construction that help put a character to the building. I can still to this day remember a lot of buildings I studied, not because of the design, but because of the story that went with it. Was there a slanderous rumor about the Architect and the homeowner? Did the Architect get into an argument with the church and design something as a response? These are all things that make it interesting, like desperate housewives interesting, but memorable nonetheless.
Use your imagination
When it comes to remembering specific buildings, there are a few memory hacks you can do to increase your retention. I tend to use imaginative stories with the picture I see. There is an Italian Architect named Cortona who designed Baroque churches, and the way I was able to correlate the image of that church with him was to imagine somebody cutting the building (Cortar in spanish means to cut). I sat down with a group of friends and we all had a great time coming up with imaginative imagery for the pictures of the buildings.

[caption id="attachment_735" align="alignnone" width="231"] Sketch while taking notes[/caption]
Sketch, Sketch, Listen, Sketch
I saved the most important tip for last, and it is one that was the most helpful for me. While my professor had the slide up on the projector and was telling the stories about it, I would sketch either the whole building or an important detail. This has two purposes, first, it would help me to visually correlate the image with the story being told, and second, it was much easier to study my notes when I had the image of the building next to it. As a visual learner, this is a tremendous help because reading notes doesn't sink in as well as reading the note while imagining the building. As an added bonus, it helps you practice your quick sketching.
Take away
Architectural history may seem like a boring class and remembering buildings and dates may seem like a daunting task, but being able place the buildings and architects in history helps to get a bigger picture of architecture and will help you become a much better Architect yourself. It can feel pretty awesome to go to a museum and see a piece of art that features a classic building, and you can tell everyone what period it was built in and the Architect, along with an interesting story about it.

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