70466 - Aesthetics

Learning outcomes

Comprehension and discussion of some key questions of contemporary aesthetic debate on architecture, its language and link to the subject “city”, through a reconstructive and analytical approach.

Course contents

The course will introduce and examine some of the main authors and texts in Twentieth century philosophy connected to the aesthetic reflection on architecture, and, about them, will discuss themes like “space”, “place”, “city” and “architecture”. The course will be divided in two parts, a first one on Walter Benjamin's Aesthetics (after have recalled Georg Simmel's analysis on the great city), and a second one on some texts by F. Engels - L. Mumford, E. Bloch, S. Kracauer or E. Canetti chosen by students who form four groups. Some key concepts from the former aesthetic reflection on architecture (Eighteenth-Nineteenth century), as well as the basic concepts of philosophical thought involved in texts under consideration, will be clarified.

Readings/Bibliography

First Part (all students)

Georg Simmel: Le metropoli e la vita dello spirito (1903), in Id., Le metropoli e la vita dello spirito, ed. by Paolo Jedlowski, Roma, Armando, 1995, p. 35-57;

Walter Benjamin: Esperienza e povertà (1933), Su Scheerbart (1939), in Id., Le opere, ed. by Massimo Palma, vol. 1, Roma, Editori Internazionali Riuniti, 2011, p. 253-260, 299-302; Parigi, la capitale del XIX secolo (1935), in Id., I “passages” di Parigi, ed. by Rolf Tiedemann, Italian edition by Enrico Ganni, Torino, Einaudi, 2002, vol. 1, p. 5-18 (as a background of the text, some readings from the collected preparatory material for the unfinished book on the Passages, expecially from: La Parigi arcaica: catacombe, “démolitions”, declino di Parigi; Costruzione in ferro; L’“intérieur” – la traccia; Città di sogno; Casa di sogno, ibidem, p. 87-107, 159-178, 224-242, 432-464); L’opera d’arte nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica – Terza versione (1939), ed. by Fabrizio Desideri, Roma, Donzelli, 2012, p. 93-138; Tolgo la mia biblioteca dalle casse (1931), in Id., Opere complete, ed. by Enrico Ganni, vol. 4, Scritti 1930-1931, Torino, Einaudi, 2002, p. 456-463; Napoli (1925), Mosca (1927), Weimar (1928), Marsiglia (1929), San Gimignano (1929), in Id., Immagini di città, new edition ed. by Ernico Ganni, Torino, Einaudi, 2007, p. 3-64, 71-81; Infanzia berlinese intorno al millenovecento (1938), Torino, Einaudi, 2001, p. 3-18.

 

Filosofie della metropoli. Spazio, potere, architettura nel pensiero del Novecento, ed. by Matteo Vegetti, Roma, Carocci, 2009, p. 119-152 and 79-117 (A. Pinotti on G. Simmel; G. Gurisatti on W. Benjamin).

 

Second part (four groups)

1. Friedrich Engels, Le grandi città in Id., La situazione della classe operaia in Inghilterra, trasl. by  Renato Panzieri, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1992, p. 63-112. Lewis Mumford, L’insensata città industriale in Id., La cultura delle città, ed. by Michela Rosso and Paolo Scrivano, Torino, Einaudi, 2007, p. 133-212..

2. Ernst Bloch: Produzione dell’ornamento in Id., Spirito dell’utopia, a cura di Francesco Coppellotti, Milano, Rizzoli, 2010, p. 19-47; Ornamenti. Arte, filosofia e letteratura, ed. by Micaela Latini, Roma, Armando Editore, 2012 (Età della pietra e architettura, p. 53-56; Iconoclastia e ornamenti, p. 71-98). Micaela Latini, Il possibile e il marginale. Studio su Ernst Bloch, Milano, Mimesis, 2005, p. 45-73.

3. Siegfried Kracauer: Strade di Berlino e altrove, ed. by Daniele Pisani, Bologna, Pendragon, 2004 (Strade, p. 9-49; postface by Daniele Pisani, p. 163-182); La massa come ornamento, transl. by Maria Giovanna Amirante Pappalardo and Francesco Maione, Napoli, Prismi, 1982 (Culto del divertimento, p. 79-84; Uffici di collocamento, p. 135-142); Da Caligari a Hitler. Una storia psicologica del cinema tedesco, ed. by Leonardo Quaresima, Torino, Lindau, 2001 (on Metropolis, p. 202-203; Die Straße, p. 416-417; Montagne, nuvole, uomini, p. 423-424; Der heilige Berg, p. 427; Ce la faremo, p. 430-431; Nuovi film. Bassifondi, p. 454-455). Olivier Agard, Il cinema e l’immagine del disincanto in Siegfried Kracauer, in “Iride. Filosofia e discussione pubblica”, 3, 2016, p. 579-590.

4. Elias Canetti: Hitler secondo Speer in Id., La coscienza delle parole, tansl. by Furio Jesi, Milano, Adelphi, 1995, p. 239-274; Il caso Schreber (first and second part) in Id., Massa e potere, transl. by Furio Jesi, Milano, Adelphi, 1994, p. 528-561. Youssef Ishaghpour, Elias Canetti. Metamorfosi e identità, ed. by A. Borsari, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2005, p. 11-58.

Teaching methods

The course comprises 48 hours of lessons (the first and the second part: 24 hours each)

Assessment methods

Oral examination. Short texts written or discussed by students are welcome.

In detail: the verification of the learning objective of knowing some of the essential concepts of modern aesthetics through the analysis of modern artistic languages and their relationship with the theme of the city will be implemented, as far as the monographic part, through presentations of texts or audiovisual materials agreed with the teacher within the course, and, as far as the exercise part is concerned, by elaborating a synthesis text for each of the authors and topics addressed in the group, as well as through the individual oral examination at the end of the course which will include questions on the monograph, on the work of the group and on that of at least one other group.

Teaching tools

The bibliographies specific to the different parts of the course will be analyzed and acquired during the various lessons, starting with the tools available in the texts indicated in the program. The teaching material presented during the lessons is made available to the student in paper or electronic format via the internet, also following the access restrictions, according to the modalities that will be indicated at the beginning of the course.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Borsari

See the website of Pierpaolo Ascari