78046 - History of Contemporary Architecture (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students will:

- know the general outline of the history of contemporary architecture;

- recognize, historically contextualize and critically evaluate the major architectures of the contemporary age;

- know the major formal and constructive aspects of the works considered;

- know how to connect architecture with other art disciplines.

Course contents

part 1

The course intends to introduce students to the knowledge of contemporary architecture by analyzing significant works, personalities and issues. The study of the works focuses on the analysis of some topics such as pattern the configuration of space, the role and forms of structure, the questions of truth and nature of materials, the pattern a the ornament, the polychrome and the coating. This course also deals with works by artists whose creative process has contributed to focus on concepts often decisive for architecture.

By the end of the course, students are able to evaluate architectures considering the connection between idea, conception, form and materials, and to understand the cultural, technical and artistic issues related to their realization. Studying the various architectural experiences allows students to deal with some issues that may suggest their initiating personal research.

Course contents

• Polychromic architecture systems: from Quatremère de Quincy to Jakob Ignaz Hittorff
• From the principle of polychrome to the coating principle: Gottfried Semper
• Construction and structure systems: Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc
• Chicago School Architecture: from the frame to the curtain wall
• Frank Lloyd Wright: the enclosure of the space
• Otto Wagner, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Josef Hoffmann, Josef Plečnik: order and truth of the coating
• Adolf Loos, from the law of coating to Raumplan
• 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"

part 2

Professor: Anna Rosellini; tutor: Stefano Setti

The seminars focus on the book: Sigfried Giedion, Spazio tempo ed architettura. Lo sviluppo di una nuova tradizione, Milano, Hoepli, 1984. Starting from the study and understanding of the text, students must develop research and reflections that are discussed during the seminars. They are asked to develop considerations that take into account what is presented during the lessons and to find the iconographic material necessary to comment on the work.

The student must:

• Know the author of the essay
• Know the content of the essay
• Know the context in which the essay was written
• Develop reflections on the contents of the essay
• Collect the iconographic material necessary to comment on your reflections
• Participate actively during the seminar lessons

By the end of the course, each student must submit a written report, accompanied by images, on the studies carried out during the seminars (text length: 10,000 characters, spaces included; number of images as desired; each image must be accompanied by a caption. The report must be delivered in digital format by e-mail).

The structure of the report must be divided into:

• Introduction (summary description of your work and its aims, presentation of the chosen theme)
• Central body (development of the topic), divided into paragraphs, if necessary
• Bibliography

The text should include footnotes.

Editorial rules for the drafting of the report:

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/anna.rosellini/contenuti-utili/b405781e

The relationship between text and image and the layout are also evaluated.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending Students

part 1

Bibliography

Cometa Michele, L’architettura italiana tra policromia e storicismo, in Id., Il Romanzo dell’Architettura. La Sicilia e il Grand Tour nell’etàdi Goethe, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1999, pp. 299-325

Fanelli Giovanni, Gargiani Roberto, Il principio del rivestimento. Prolegomena a una storia dell'architettura contemporanea, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1994

Rosellini Anna, La Ville Contemporaine di Le Corbusier e Pierre Jeanneret, o del paesaggio svizzero sublimato in metropoli, in La Città Nuova. Oltre Sant’Elia. Cento anni di visioni urbane, Milano, Silvana Editoriale, 2013, pp. 67-79

Rosellini Anna, Unité d’Habitation in Marseille - Experimental Artistic Device, in Ruth Baumeister, What Moves Us? Le Corbusier and Asger Jorn in Art and Architecture, Zürich, Scheidegger & Spiess, 2015, pp. 38-45

part 2

Bibliography

Giedion Sigfried, Spazio tempo ed architettura. Lo sviluppo di una nuova tradizione, Milano, Hoepli, 1984

Non-attending Students

Bibliography

Cometa Michele, L’architettura italiana tra policromia e storicismo, in Id., Il Romanzo dell’Architettura. La Sicilia e il Grand Tour nell’etàdi Goethe, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1999, pp. 299-325

Fanelli Giovanni, Gargiani Roberto, Il principio del rivestimento. Prolegomena a una storia dell'architettura contemporanea, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1994

Giedion Sigfried, Spazio tempo ed architettura. Lo sviluppo di una nuova tradizione, Milano, Hoepli, 1984

Rosellini Anna, La Ville Contemporaine di Le Corbusier e Pierre Jeanneret, o del paesaggio svizzero sublimato in metropoli, in La Città Nuova. Oltre Sant’Elia. Cento anni di visioni urbane, Milano, Silvana Editoriale, 2013, pp. 67-79

Rosellini Anna, Unité d’Habitation in Marseille - Experimental Artistic Device, in Ruth Baumeister, What Moves Us? Le Corbusier and Asger Jorn in Art and Architecture, Zürich, Scheidegger & Spiess, 2015, pp. 38-45

Teaching methods

Due to the restrictions imposed by the current health emergency, the course will be carried out following the "blended" model:

From 3 February to 18 February the course will be online.
From 19 February to 8 March, the course will be carried out in classroom.

It is always possible to connect remotely and follow live streaming of the lessons through the TEAMS platform.

FROM 3 MARCH THE COURSE WILL BE HELD ONLINE

During the first lesson all the teaching methods and tools will be introduced.

Assessment methods

Attending students

70% of the grade: final examination on part 1

Oral examination of the topics discussed in the course and the contents of the bibliography

During the oral exam, students must demonstrate to have acquired a critical understanding of the topics discussed in the course and in the bibliography.

30% of the grade: works done for part 2

Delivery of a written report (6 April 2021) and collective discussions of the topics (9 April 2021)

The presentation is organized by the students, in the form of a conference, in the month of December.

The class participation, the work produced and the final report are also evaluated.

Non-attending students

Oral examination of the topics discussed in the bibliography

During the oral exam, students must demonstrate to have acquired a critical understanding of the topics discussed in the bibliography.

Attending and non-attending students

1. It will be assessed as excellent the performance of those students achieving an organic vision of the course contents, the use of a proper specific language, the originality of the reflection as well as the familiarity with the tools for analyzing the architecture works.

2. It will be assessed as average the performance of those students showing mostly mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, not articulated synthesis and analysis capabilities, a correct but not always appropriate language, as well as a scholastic study of the history of architecture.

3. It will be assessed as barely sufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, lack of knowledge of the history of architecture.

4. It will be assessed as insufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, no orientation within the recommended bibliography and inability to analyse the architecture.

Teaching tools

Students will be provided with the images projected in lesson and part of the bibliography.

Links to further information

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

Office hours

See the website of Anna Rosellini