Architecture Theory and Culture, 1950-1990

Professor Pyla, Arch 577 PP, Room 210A, Architecture, Th 2:00-5:00pm

This is a theory seminar based on a critical review of selected texts, interpretations, and scholarly traditions that influenced architectural culture in the second half of the 20th Century. The course will focus on redefinitions of modernism that emerged in the post-WWII era, and will examine related concepts, such as “regionalism,” “formalism,” “situationism” etc., as well as later debates on postmodernism, offering the historical background necessary for understanding these concepts. Seminar discussions will reflect on the relation of the discipline of architecture to other spheres of cultural production such as art, science, technology and politics.

This seminar is designed for PhD students, and it is also open to Masters students in Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Its goal is to help students hone their analytical skills, by pursuing three kinds of inquiry:
close critical reading of texts that have influenced the production and reception of architecture; exploration of conflicts and debates that shaped the discipline; and examination of the historical circumstances that shaped these debates.

The course requirements are weekly reading assignments and several classroom presentations of the readings, and short expository essays. In order to profit from the seminar and contribute to it, students need to complete the assigned weekly reading and essays before the class meeting. A final research paper is also required and should be presented in class during the last weeks of the semester.