Architectural Analysis

Course Description

ARCH 499B Architectural Analysis (3) (IL)Architecture is amplified and embodied in cities. Since most architecture is set in cities and the city is itself an architecture, it becomes necessary for us to evaluate the relationships that affect the making of buildings for cities and the organization of buildings into a meaningful whole. This course will explore the two meanings of the term "the architecture of cities". It will propose questions leading to an analytical de-composition of the situation of cities in general and Rome in particular. The course is loosely divided into three sections. The first, Historical Overview, presents the evolution of early settlements focusing on the significance of built form. The second, Revolutions and Modernity, demonstrates the qualitative shift in emphasis that settlements undergo from the Enlightenment, through the Industrial Revolution, to the Information Revolution. The third section, the Current Debate, will present some contemporary issues and techniques proposed for the resolution of apparent problems of city architecture. Since this course is given in a unique setting, it takes full advantage of Rome, its history and its problems, to highlight the universal design elements that are part of an analytical understanding, but also of a synthetic design understanding of cities. This course is theory based and, as such, will provoke thinking, a taking apart mentally, more than a making of architecture. The studio design problem, also set in this city, is the operative dimension of thoughts generated here. In this class, students are expected to articulate thought and some clear graphic analysis concerning architecture. These thoughts, if manipulated with discipline and commitment, will become a source of illumination for design activity. Learning Objectives: * To learn the meaning of cities in Western culture * To understand the significance of foundation and other rites concerning building the human environment. * To understand the meaning of urban architecture * To understand the reasons for the form of streets, buildings and open spaces in Western cities * To achieve the analytical skills necessary to take apart the component systems and material elements of architecture

Code

ARCH 499B

Credits

3

Subject

ARCH

Programs That Include This Course

• Bachelor's Bachelor of Architecture in Architecture