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A 703
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PHILA PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITYSCHOOL OF
ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN A 703 Theories of Architecture Seminar Syllabus
- Fall 2003 Dr.
David M. Breiner
Type
of Course
This three-credit seminar is an elective history/theory course for all
students in the architecture and interior design programs. Prerequisite
Successful completion of A532 Description
Following the four-semester sequence of history of architecture and
interiors courses, this seminar will focus on selected topics which characterize
architectural theory during the "Modern" era -- that is, from the late
19th century to the present. An
historical survey of the fundamental principles which have shaped architectural
thinking, it will review, in a critical way, the major issues which have
influenced both the meaning of and the practice of architecture during that
time: the relationship of the
architect to his/her work, and to the culture at large; the impact of technology
and politics; and the spatial experience of a building.
Theorists' critiques of contemporary practice will be emphasized; and
current theories will be explored in an attempt to clarify an approach to the
study and practice of architecture. Objectives
The primary objectives of this course are:
1. To develop the student's
understanding of the diverse theoretical foundations and social settings from
which the meaning of architecture (as exhibited in the making of buildings,
landscapes and human settlements) has been derived for the last century;
2. To familiarize the
student with the role of criticism and the relationship of criticism to theory;
3. To develop the student's
ability to incorporate theoretical foundations into the design process; and
4. To develop the student's ability to examine architectural
issues rationally, logically, and coherently and to communicate architectural
ideas in written and oral forms. Section
082-D meets Tues/Thurs 9:35 - 10:50 am Professor
Dr. David M. Breiner office
hours: Tuesday 1:00 – 2:30 pm and Wednesday 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
phone: 951-2597
office location: A + D Center, mezzanine
e-mail: BreinerD@PhilaU.edu
Required
Texts
Programs and Manifestoes on
20th-Century Architecture. Ed.
Ulrich Conrads. Trans. Michael
Bullock. Cambridge, Mass: MIT
Press, 1970. Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture.
Ed. Kate Nesbitt. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996. A
packet of additional treatises will be distributed.
Also, you are expected to keep abreast of current periodicals, and
occasional articles may be added to supplement our discussions.
Some supplemental readings may be put on eRes (from Gutman homepage, find
Breiner/A703; password “Theories”) Recommended
Kruft, Hanno-Walter. A History of Architectural Theory from Vitruvius to the
Ockman,
Joan, with Edward Eigen. Architecture
Culture 1943-1968: A Documentary
Anthology. New York: Rizzoli /
Columbia Books of Architecture, 1993. Procedures
This seminar course is reading intensive and students will be required to
engage in critical discussions of the course material.
Students will carefully read the assigned material, highlighting and
annotating it as he/she sees fit, in preparation for discussions and for
occasional ten-minute quizzes, written at the beginning of class, during which
time students may use their texts and notes. Furthermore, during each class one
student will be responsible for helping to direct discussion of that session's
readings.
Each student is required to review assigned periodicals for their
approaches to design theory, and to attend lectures sponsored by local
institutions (TBA); your understanding of the issues raised will be exhibited in
your submission of a word-processed
(approx. one-page) response to the periodical review and to each lecture.
Completion
Each student's grade for the course will be based on the following: Participation
-- Your participation is evaluated by your ongoing contribution
to class discussions on the readings and on current periodicals, and by
your demonstrated knowledge of the material. Quizzes and one-page responses
-- Quizzes will be graded on how well answers address the question in
relation to the assigned readings. The
one-page responses will be graded on insightfulness, clarity, and presentation.
Statement of personal architectural theory -- Near the end of the
semester, each student will submit a personal architectural theory, inspired by
the readings and discussions associated with this course as well as by other
influences. Final exam --
At the end of the semester, an open-book, in-class exam will address issues
discussed throughout the semester. Distribution
Participation
25%
Personal theory
25%
Quizzes and responses
25%
Exam
25%
Total
100%
Attendance
Class attendance and promptness are critical to success in this
course. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to get
notes from a classmate.
More than three absences will reduce your grade for participation; more
than five absences automatically earns you an "F".
Written assignments must be submitted when due.
Eating and drinking in class are not permitted.
Please be courteous to everyone in the class; it isn't easy for a dozen
or so people to conduct an orderly discussion. Honesty
Plagiarism is prohibited by your Student Code of Conduct and will be
strictly enforced.
Even unintentional plagiarism is wrong and ignorance will not be accepted
as an excuse. Plagiarists
misrepresent the ideas, words, or work that rightfully belong to another as
their own. The proper use of the
ideas, words, or word of another requires that you acknowledge your source
adequately. Student Archives
The College reserves the right to keep your work indefinitely. Some
student work, representative of the
course, will be collected and will become a permanent part of the archives.
We retain our students' work because the assessment of student work is
important in securing accreditation by both FIDER (for interior design) and NAAB
(for architecture). COURSE
OUTLINE
Week
Date
Topic and Readings due
H (handout), P (Programs and
Manifestoes), T (Theorizing a New Agenda)
1
Aug. 28
Introduction: What is Modern?
M. Berman, "Modernity -- Yesterday, Today and
Tomorrow" H (15-36) 2
Sept. 2
Craft and Ornament
W. Morris, "The Lesser Arts" H
(233-54)
L. Sullivan, "Ornament in Architecture"
H (187-90) Sept. 4
The Total Work of Art and the Will
to Form
O. Wagner, "The Promotion of Art"
H (143-48) H.
van de Velde, "Programme" P 13
---, “Credo" P 18
H. Muthesius, "Aims of the Werkbund"
P 26-27
H. Muthesius and H. van de Velde, "Werkbund Thesis and
Antithesis" P
28-31
3
Sept.
9
No class—to compensate for out-of-class activities
Sept. 11
No class—to compensate for out-of-class activities 4
Sept. 16
Culture, Ornament, and Purity
A. Loos, "Ornament and Crime" P
19-24
LeCorbusier, "The Decorative Art of Today"
H (7, 83-101) Sept.
18
Modernization of Universals
T. van Doesburg et al., "De Stijl: Manifesto 1"
P 39-40
T. van Doesburg, "Principles of Neo-Plastic Art"
H (279-81)
P. Mondrian, "Neo-Plasticism: the General Principle of Plastic
E. Lissitsky, "A. and Pangeometry"
H (303-07) 5
Sept. 23
The Bauhaus
W. Gropius/B. Taut/A. Behne, "New Ideas on Architecture"
P 46-48
W. Gropius, "Programme of the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar"
P 49-53
Sept. 25
Architecture: Left and Right
B. Taut, "A Programme for Architecture"
P 41-43
Work Council for Art, "Under the Wing of a Great
Architecture" P 44-45
H. Meyer, "Building" P
117-20
CIAM, "La Sarraz Declaration" P
109-13
6
Sept. 30
A Modern Style
L. Mies van der Rohe, "Working Theses" P 74-75
---, "Industrialized Building" P 81-82
---, "On Form in Architecture" P 102
---, "The New Era" P 123
---, "Technology and Architecture"
P 154
P. Johnson and H.-R. Hitchcock, The
International Style,
excerpts
H (17-39, 140-41,
Oct. 1
Other Modernists - Part I
H. Häring, “Formulations Towards a Reorientation in the Applied Arts” P 103-05
---, "The House as an Organic Structure"
P 126-27
A. Aalto, "The Humanizing of Architecture"
H (76-79)
---, "The RIBA Discourse: 'The Architectural Struggle'"
H (144-48) 7
Oct. 7
Other Modernists - Part II
L. Kahn, "Monumentality"
H (48-54)
---, "Order Is" P 169-70
A. van Eyck, "Building a House"
H (39-43)
---, "Right Size" H
(43-49)
Oct. 9
Critique of Modernism - Part I
R. Venturi, Complexity and Contradiction in
Architecture,
excerpt H (16-40)
8
Oct 14
Critique of Modernism - Part II
P. Johnson, "The Seven Crutches of Modern Architecture"
H (190-92)
J. Wines, De-Architecture, excerpt H
(143-65)
Oct. 16
Region and Material - Part I
F.L. Wright, "Out of the Ground Into the Light" H (186-203)
K. Frampton, "Prospects for a Critical Regionalism"
T 468-82 9
Oct. 21
Region and Material - Part II
T. Ando, "From Self-Enclosed Modern Architecture Towards
Universality" H (138-42)
---, "Toward New Horizons in Architecture"
T 456-61
H. Fathy, "What is a City?" H
(122-36)
Oct. 23
Historicism
D. Porphyrios, "The Relevance of Classical Architecture" T
91-96
Q. Terry, "The Origins of the Orders" H (126-28)
---, "Seven Misunderstandings about Classical Architecture"
H (129-30)
10
Oct. 28
Semiotics and Structuralism
D. Agrest and M. Gandelsonas, “Semiotics and
Architecture” T 110-21
G. Broadbent, "A Plain Man's Guide to the Theory of Signs in Architecture" T 122-40
Oct. 30
No class – to compensate for out-of-class activities 11 Nov.
4
Poststructuralism and Deconstruction
J. Derrida interviewed by Eva Meyer, "Architecture Where Desire Can
Live" T 142-49
B. Tschumi, "Introduction: Notes Towards a Theory of Architectural
Disjunction" T 169-72
Nov. 6
Urban Theory – Part I
C. Alexander, "A City is Not a Tree (Part 2)" H (380-88)
C. Rowe and F. Koetter, Collage
City, excerpt T 266-93 12
Nov. 11
Urban Theory – Part II
R. Koolhaas, "Postscript: Introduction for New Research, The
Contemporary City" T 322-25
---, "Toward the Contemporary City"T 326-30
Nov. 13
The School of Venice
Aldo Rossi, "An Analogical Architecture"
T 345-52
---, "Thoughts About My Recent Work"
T 354-58
Manfredo Tafuri, "Problems in the Form of a Conclusion"
T 360-68
13
Nov. 18
Ethical Agendas
D. Ghirardo, "The Architecture of Deceit" T 384-91
W. McDonough, "The Hannover Principles"
T 408-10
McDonough, "Design, Ecology, Ethics, and the Making of Things"
T 398-407
Nov. 20
Phenomenology and the Body of Architecture
C. Norberg-Schulz, "The Phenomenon of Place" T 412-39
J. Pallasmaa, "The Geometry of Feeling" T 447-53 14
Nov. 25
Feminism, Gender, and the Body
B. Tschumi, "The Pleasure of Architecture" T 530-40
D. Agrest, “Architecture from Without”
T 541-53
Nov. 27
Thanksgiving Holiday – no class 15
Dec. 2
The Sublime
P. Eisenman, “En Terror Firma”
T 564-70
A. Vidler, “Theorizing the Unhomely” T
572-76
Dec. 4
Tectonics
M. Frascari, "The Tell-the-Tale Detail"
T 498-514
K. Frampton, "Rappel a l'ordre, the Case for the Tectonic"
T
516-28
Final
Exam:
Place and time to be announced. This
open-book exam will ask you to synthesize themes discussed throughout the
semester. |
This site is maintained by David M. Breiner at Philadelphia University and was last updated on 4 February 2004. |