77859 - History of Contemporary Architecture

Learning outcomes

Provide a historical-critical knowledge of the principal experiences of architecture from the origins of modern architecture to the current period. The fundamental episodes of the twentieth century artistic production are also covered. Exercises on the subject of history of architecture are carried out and are integrated with teachings of architectural design and restoration.

Course contents

Structure, Space and Matter

Content

The course aims to introduce students to the knowledge of contemporary architecture through the study of works and significant issues. The analysis of some topics, such as the truth and nature of the materials, the role and forms of the structure and its relationship to space will be privileged in the discussion of the architectures. At the end of the course, the student will have the tools to evaluate the architecture from the point of view of the relationship between idea, conception, form and matter, and to understand the cultural, technical and artistic issues related to their implementation. The study of the various architectural experiences will allow the student to face a series of problems that could suggest any personal research projects.

Keywords: contemporary architecture, structure, space, matter.

 

 Course topics

1 - Fundamentals of Modernity

Gottfried Semper and the principle of coating

Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, system of construction and system of structure

Exposed frame and curtain wall: from Jeames Bogardus to Louis Henri Sullivan

Order and truth of the coating and Raumplan, from Otto Wagner to Adolf Loos

2 - Towards an Architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright, organic architecture and nature of materials

Auguste Perret, order and truth of the structure

Mies van der Rohe, search for absolute structure

Le Corbusier, from the ornamental composition to the ''espace indicible"

Louis Isadore Kahn, monumental structures and zero degree of matter

3 - Italian Architecture of the Second Postwar

The work of Leonardo Ricci

The work of Aldo Rossi

Radical architecture, from Archizoom to Superstudio

4 - Artistic and Radicals Visions

The New Brutalism and the Post-Modern

Metabolists visionary structures

Space and materials in sculpture, from Rauschenberg to Födinger

5 - Archipelago in the contemporary

Swiss experimentalism, from Herzog & de Meuron to Peter Zumthor

Jean Nouvel e Lacaton & Vassal

Seminar - Louis I. Kahn (presentation of the students)

For additional information see COURSE TIMETABLE 2016-17

Readings/Bibliography

- A. Belluzzi, C. Conforti, Architettura italiana 1944-1994, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 1994.

- W. J. R. Curtis, L'architettura moderna dal 1900, Phaidon, London, 2006.

- G. Fanelli, R. Gargiani, Storia dell'architettura contemporanea. Spazio, struttura, involucro, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2006.

- R. Gargiani, Louis I. Kahn, Exposed Concrete and Hollow Stones, 1949-1959, EPFL Press, Lausanne, 2014.

- R. Gargiani, A. Rosellini, Le Corbusier. Béton Brut and Ineffable Space, 1940-1965. Surface Materials and Psychophysiology of Vision, EPFL Press, Lausanne, 2011.

- A. Latour, Louis I. Kahn: writings, lectures, interviews, New York, Rizzoli, 1991.

- A. Rosellini, Le Corbusier e la superficie, dal rivestimento d'intonaco al béton brut, Aracne, Roma, 2013

- A. Rosellini, Louis Kahn, Toward the zero degree of concrete, 1960-1974, EPFL Press, Lausanne, 2014.

- P. Ursprung, ed., Herzog & de Meuron: Natural History, Centre Canadien d'Architecture, Lars Müller, Montreal, Zürich, 2002.

The bibliography will be completed by the student that shall prepare, in agreement with the teacher, the list of essays required for the final report to be presented during the final exam.

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars

Assessment methods

1. Tests in progress

2. Delivery of a written report

3. Oral Exam (on the topics discussed in the course and held in the bibliography)

1. Tests in progress

The tests include: oral presentations made by the students during the seminars. Evaluations of these works will be taken into account for the final exam.

Projects examined during the course will be assigned to groups of students. From the analysis of these projects, students should develop personal arguments that will be presented in the seminars. It is required to redesign the architecture (from the whole to details), to develop a reflection on the projects and to find illustrations necessary to comment the works. With this material the student should prepare a presentation (PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF) and expose the results of his research.

Each group will have to choose one of the following projects:

• Louis I. Kahn, Yale Art Gallery, New Haven, 1951-53
• Louis I. Kahn, progetto per City Hall Building, 1952-53 e progetto per City Tower, 1957
• Louis I. Kahn, Richards Medical Research Laboratories, Philadelphia, 1957-59
• Louis I. Kahn, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, 1960-62 (first project)
• Louis I. Kahn, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, 1962-66 (second project)
• Louis I. Kahn, National Assembly Building, Dhaka, 1962-83
• Louis I. Kahn, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1966-72

The student should:

• Knowing the author of the project
• Analyze the project in detail
• Knowing the context in which the project has been drawn up
• Develop a personal reflection
• Collect iconographic materials to expose their works
• Actively participate in class seminars

2. Delivery of a written report

At the end of the course, each group of student will deliver a written report, complete with images and drawings on a chosen project (text length: minimum 10000 characters, including spaces; each image must be accompanied by the caption).

The relationship between text and image, and the layout will be evaluated.

The structure of the report will be divided into:

· Introduction (brief description of the work and its aims, presentation of the chosen topic)

· Central body (development of the subject), divided into paragraphs, if necessary

· Conclusion (that clarify the reflections and summarize the work done)

· Bibliography

For the preparation of the report refer to NORME REDAZIONALI per la stesura della RELAZIONE

3. Oral exam

During the oral exam, students must demonstrate to have acquired a critical understanding of the topics discussed during the course and a critical knowledge of the recommended bibliography. The student will develop a reflection on the architecture of the period covered in the course. The analysis should not be limited to the disquisition of the formal aspects of the individual works; the student will be able to break down the architecture showing an understanding of all aspects related to the central themes of the course and the formal and aesthetic reasons that have led certain technical choices.

After completing the course the student will be able:
• To know the features of the history of architecture of the considered period
• Identify and analyze the most significant works
• Develop personal reflections on the relationship between idea, form, structure and matter
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the various issues discussed
• Use correct terminology

The achievement of a comprehensive vision of the issues, the possession of a specific language, the originality of the reflection as well as familiarity with the architecture analysis tools will be evaluated with marks of excellence. Knowledge mostly mechanical or mnemonic of matter, a capacity of synthesis and analysis articulated or not, an use of proper language but not always appropriate, as well as a school domain of architectural history will lead to fair valuations. Training gaps or use inappropriate language, as well as a lack of knowledge of the architecture analysis tools will lead to votes that will amount on the sufficiency threshold. Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliography and inability to analyze architecture will be evaluated negatively.

Teaching tools

The course images will be provided to the students

Links to further information

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HistoireArchitectureHistoireBeton/

Office hours

See the website of Anna Rosellini

See the website of Giovanni Leoni