B5332 - History and Theories of Architecture and Design (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student: knows the outlines of the history of architecture and design criticism and theories; is able to understand and evaluate the specificity of works in relation to historical, political and social contexts, also in order to reconsider the idea of heritage, its enhancement and curatorship; is able to evaluate the role assumed by architecture and design in the transition between the 19th and 21st centuries in relation to other artistic disciplines; has the ability to analyse domestic objects in relation to the idea of home and living, in the changing historical moments of contemporary society.

Course contents

The course aims to examine the transformations of domestic space, from 19th-century experiments to radical research and contemporary achievements. At the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive overview of reflections on architecture, design and their habitat developed in the European and Western context and in other world traditions.

The following topics will be analysed:

Prologue - Ecological conflicts, biodiversity, collective habitat and human rights at architecture biennials

1 - The American Hotel

2 - The Beecher sisters' theory for the Home for the American Woman

3 - Projects for the Dom-Kommuny

4 - Towards a protocol for living, from furniture to the city

5 - Open access and counterculture in Brazil

6 - Metabolist visions in Japan

7 - Social revolution and radical collectives

8 - Rooms, metropolises and feminisms

9 - Contemporary ruins and permanent construction sites

10 - Protocols for a contemporary collective habitat

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students

Giovanni Fanelli, Roberto Gargiani, Ornamento e nudità. Gli interni della casa in Francia. 1918-1939, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1993.

Imma Forino, L'interno nell'interno. Una fenomenologia dell'arredamento, Firenze, Alinea, 2006.

Recommended reading

Dolores Hayden, The Grand Domestic Revolution: A History of Feminist Designs for American Homes, Neighborhoods and Cities, Cambridge (Massachusetts) MIT Press, 1982.

Anna Giannetti, Storia della cucina. Architettura e pratiche sociali, Sesto San Giovanni (MI), Jouvence, 2019.

Non-attending students

Giovanni Fanelli, Roberto Gargiani, Ornamento e nudità. Gli interni della casa in Francia. 1918-1939, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1993.

Imma Forino, L'interno nell'interno. Una fenomenologia dell'arredamento, Firenze, Alinea, 2006.

Anna Giannetti, Storia della cucina. Architettura e pratiche sociali, Sesto San Giovanni (MI), Jouvence, 2019.

Recommended reading

Dolores Hayden, The Grand Domestic Revolution: A History of Feminist Designs for American Homes, Neighborhoods and Cities, Cambridge (Massachusetts) MIT Press, 1982.

Teaching methods

Lectures.

The course will follow a chronological structure. It will be divided into lectures that will historically reconstruct the various works and theories developed from the 19th to the 21st century. Some lectures will deal with significant themes from a specific historical period, while others will be monographic and will retrace specific experiences in architecture and design, placing them in their historical context.

Assessment methods

Attending students

Oral exam on the topics discussed in the course and on the contents of the bibliography for attending students

To pass the oral exam, students must demonstrate that they have acquired a critical understanding of the topics discussed in the course and a critical knowledge of the bibliography.

1. The achievement of a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered, mastery of expression and specific language, originality of thought, and familiarity with the tools of architectural and design analysis will be evaluated with excellent grades.

2. A mostly mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, an inability to synthesise and analyse, or correct but not always appropriate language, as well as a school-level mastery of architectural and design history will lead to fair grades.

3. Gaps in knowledge or inappropriate language, as well as a poor knowledge of the tools of architectural and design analysis, will lead to grades that are just above the pass mark.

4. Gaps in education, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliography, and inability to analyse architecture and design will inevitably be evaluated negatively.

Non-attending students

Oral exam on the contents of the bibliography for non-attending students

To pass the oral exam, students must demonstrate that they have acquired a critical knowledge of the bibliography.

1. The achievement of a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered, mastery of expression and specific language, originality of thought, and familiarity with the tools of architectural and design analysis will be evaluated with excellent grades.

2. A mostly mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, an inability to synthesise and analyse, or correct but not always appropriate language, as well as a school-level mastery of architectural and design history will lead to fair grades.

3. Gaps in knowledge or inappropriate language, as well as a poor knowledge of the tools of architectural and design analysis, will lead to grades that are just above the pass mark.

4. Gaps in education, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliography, and inability to analyse architecture and design will inevitably be evaluated negatively.

Office hours

See the website of Anna Rosellini