43840 - Theories and Techniques of Architectural Composition

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the critical analysis of the principles and methods of architectural form construction. By analytically isolating the principles and procedures, themes and concepts that converge within the compositional processes that define individual architectural inventions, students will be led to develop an independent view of the issues and appropriate solutions required by architectural design. At the end of the course, students will understand the relationships between theory, as an overall vision of the formative process of architectural objects, and design practice in the architectural and urban fields.

Course contents

 

The master's degree course ‘Architecture, Museum, Image’ (C. I. 16 credits, 192 hours) consists of: A) the core module Architectural and Urban Composition (8 credits, 96 hours); B) a course in Theories and Techniques of Architectural Composition (4 CFU, 48 hours); C) a course in Forms and Techniques of Architectural Structures (2 CFU, 24 hours); D) a course in Iconic and Figurative Characteristics of Landscape Architecture (2 CFU, 24 hours).

The course on Theories and Techniques of Architectural Composition (4 CFU, 48 hours) offers a series of lessons aimed at clarifying certain theoretical issues addressed by modern and contemporary architectural culture in the field of figurative research, with particular reference to the theoretical background against which the architect's formative and communicative gestures are set, with a view to a specific materialisation of the “reality” of architectural invention.

In this context, talking about Theories and Techniques of Architectural Composition today means retracing paths within the field of architectural composition. It means launching an investigation into the conceptual areas of architecture, into the foundations and principles that guide the architect's critical action during the design process, investigating the genesis of compositional gestures, the nature of formative processes and the themes that characterise their development.

From this particular point of view, theory is not something that lies outside the project; it is not extraneous to its formative processes. Considering it as the ultimate guide to doing, or denying it in simple action, no longer makes sense because it is already implicit in the character of the project, in its themes, procedures and compositional gestures: theory and design are one and the same within architectural invention.

Theoretical knowledge will therefore be a fundamental tool in the process of creating architecture. Theoretical foundations and practical experience will be compared within the architectural training programme.

Readings/Bibliography

• Ernesto Nathan Rogers, Esperienza dell’architettura, Einaudi, Torino 1958.
  
• Giorgio Grassi, L'architettura come mestiere, in Heinrich Tessenow, Osservazioni elementari sul costruire, a cura di Giorgio Grassi, Franco Angeli, Milano 1975.
• Aldo Rossi, Introduzione a Boullée, in Etienne Louis Boullée.Architettura saggio sull’arte, Marsilio, Padova 1977 [I ed. Londra 1953, I trad. ita. Padova 1967]
• Aldo Rossi, Autobiografia scientifica, Pratiche Editrice, Milano 1999 [I ed. Parma 1990].
• Luciano Semerani, L'altro moderno, a cura di Antonella Gallo, Allemandi, Torino 2000.
• Rafael Moneo, Inquietudine teorica e strategia progettuale nell’opera di otto architetti contemporanei, Electa, Milano 2005.
• Christian Norberg-Schulz, Genius Loci. Paesaggio Ambiente Architettura, Electa, Milano 1979.
• Robert Venturi, Complessità e contraddizioni in architettura, Dedalo, 1980.
  
• Peter Eisenman, La fine del classico. La fine dell’Inizio, la fine della Fine [I ed. Cambridge, USA, 1984], in La Fine del Classico e altri scritti, a cura di Renato Rizzi, CLUVA Editrice, Venezia 1987.
• Renato Rizzi, Andrea Tagliapietra, Il Segreto nel nome Architettura, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2021.
  
• Claudia Cavallo, Ignazio Gardella. Persistenza dell'architettura, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2025.

Teaching methods

The course on Theories and Techniques of Architectural Composition (4 credits, 48 hours) will be delivered through lectures. The lectures will propose a methodology that prioritises the relationship between theoretical-critical text and iconographic apparatus. The use of photographic images and architectural drawings will allow for in-depth reflection on architecture and, in particular, on analogical composition and the concept of formativeness.

Assessment methods

The master's degree course ‘Architecture, Museum, Image’ (C. I. 16 credits, 192 hours) consists of: A) the core module Architectural and Urban Composition (8 credits, 96 hours); B) a course in Theories and Techniques of Architectural Composition (4 CFU, 48 hours); C) a course in Forms and Techniques of Architectural Structures (2 CFU, 24 hours); D) a course in Landscape Aesthetics and Figures of Thought (2 CFU, 24 hours).


The aptitude test for the degree course “Architecture, Museum, Image” includes the assessment of the learning of the contents of all the courses that comprise it and takes place in a single exam.

Teaching tools

Lectures using image projections and audiovisual materials. The teaching materials presented in class will be made available to students in electronic format via a digital platform, or delivered directly in the classroom, according to the methods that will be indicated at the beginning of the workshop.


The workshop has its own space for classroom exercises. Teaching support: model workshop, PCs, digital video projector, audiovisual tools and products, printers and plotters.

Office hours

See the website of Claudia Cavallo