The Modern House: Technology Then and Now

Catalog description

In the current age of new fabrication methodologies, methods are emerging for the conception and design of the contemporary house which have radical potential for enclosure, habitation and practices of daily life. This course begins by examining the canonical houses of the original avant-garde -Adolf Loos, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto -on the premise that their houses were working manifestos for rethinking space, form and indeed ideas of life itself -all of which were prompted by new concepts of construction. From this spectrum of issues, contemporary houses and contemporary methods and materials will be studied extensively to develop equally new ideas between matter and quotidian life. As the primary task of the course, students will work in teams to develop highly detailed constructional proposals for a portion of a speculative home.