Architecture & Standardization

Catalog description

Light bulbs and door hinges, paints and plumbing, insulation and electrical outlets: standards, legal ordinances, building codes, and technical specifications play an enormous role in governing the design of so many things that surround us. Still, we tend to be oblivious to their presence. The means by which they are developed, circulated, and enforced seems all too often to take place invisibly, even supernaturally, which is precisely why they are important as objects of study. Why do standard sheets tend to elude the attention of design historians and theorists? How does a standard "become" standard? It would be foolhardy to offer a totalizing answer to these questions - there is no "one size fits all" answer to why standards matter in the first place. Still, there is one point of which one can be safely assured, namely that standards and other such documents are not merely technical in nature; they need to be understood as social and cultural artifacts as well. They influence the way we think as much as they shape how we work and act. They have histories and warrant our critical attention. In this seminar, we explore theories and histories of standardization and other such "invisible" infrastructures; we explore their importance to the history of mechanization, automation, and prefabrication in design. We consider the dangers of standardization from a political, economic, and human rights point of view. We discuss standardization's relationship to capitalism, on the one hand, and modem statecraft, on the other. We theorize related concepts in architecture, from functionalism to the idea of "the user." We will use this course as an opportunity to help us understand the rise of construction management as a discipline. Our readings draw from the histories of architecture, technology, information, and politics; we will (hopefully) conduct at least one field trip; we…