History and Theory of Architecture and Urbanism II

Catalog description

The course covers the period from the Enlightenment through the early-Modern and high-Modern periods. While the course will emphasize the late-eighteenth (Enlightenment) creation of canonical pedagogies and strategies as foundational texts, it will also include nineteenth-century urbanism and landscapes, both of which condition the formation of material culture in the early- and mid-twentieth centuries. The course is written expressly for students of architecture; we will concentrate not only on the identification and formation of urban artifacts, buildings, architects, and movements, but also on the social, political, and historical context surrounding their genesis and development. The course material is presented according to successive themes, thereby facilitating not only an emphasis on the artifacts and their context, but also on the discourse that supports architecture as a discipline. These themes provide insight into the various motivations and ideas, upon which the history of Modern Architecture rests. In presenting the material in this manner, it is hoped that students will understand that history--in particular the history embedded in the material of architecture--indeed resonates through time, becoming relevant and vital to the genesis and formation of current and future architectural discourse.