HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

The course aims to introduce the students to the history and theories of modern and contemporary architecture, providing the necessary knowledge and methodology for the study of buildings and urban settlements of the twentieth century (1890-2000).
This course aims to two objectives:
1. Provide the students with a complete knowledge about the architectural movements and trends and their issues in theory, design, technics and historiography in modern and contemporary era (see Contents);
2. Give some methodological rudiments to be immediately applied in a brief study of architectural history, which the student will present in the final exam (see Assessment methods).
According to the goals of the Master’s Degree in History of Arts and Conservation of Artistic Heritage, the course intends to provide the student with those specialized methodological skills and competencies necessary to achieve a wide and deep knowledge of the twentieth-century architecture. A correct comprehension of the phenomena is the fundamental premise for an effective conservation and valorisation of the modern architecture.

It is expected that, at the course end, students will acquire the knowledge and comprehension skills of the architectural works, master a study and research methodology, and finally develop competencies in criticism and communication.

A good knowledge about the European and North American historical and artistic events in modern and contemporary era.

The course offers a reading on the modern and contemporary architecture through the most significant architects and the works and buildings that represent at best the theoretical, technical and historiographical issues in the twentieth century. Rather than an all-embracing but superficial panorama on the many twentieth-century architectural trends, the course aims to provide the students with the necessary means and competences to interpret and comprehend them through particularly exemplary and explanatory cases.
The course intends to highlight those factors that had an important impact on the development of modern and contemporary architecture, such as the urban growing, the town-planning discipline, the economical and industrial processes, and the transformations in the building technics. Furthermore, it draws special attention to the frequent and fruitful relationship between the architectural design and other arts, such as literature, graphic and industrial design, and the so-called “decorative arts”.
The course develops the following programme:

Introduction to the discipline and presentation of the assessment methods

1. NEW ARTS AND NEW MATERIALS
Art Nouveau in Europe (Art Nouveau, Modern Style, Secession, and Modernisme); the Chicago School and the skyscraper; reinforced concrete and the rationalist tradition in France; the Deutscher Werkbund.

2. AVANT-GARDES
Italian Futurism; Russian Constructivism; the School of Amsterdam and De Stijl; Expressionism; the Bauhaus.

3. THE MODERN MOVEMENT
The “masters” of the Modern Movement: Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto. Rationalism and Classicism in Italy and Europe between the world wars.

4. THE CRISIS OF THE MODERN MOVEMENT
From Modern Movement to International Style. Architecture, history and memory: post-war Italy, and Louis Kahn. The legacy of the Modern Movement in Brazil, Europe and United States. Neo-avant-gardes, High-Tech and Japanese Metabolism. Post-war Spain and Portugal. Peter Eisenman and Aldo Rossi. Post-modern. The architecture of the millennium.

Referral texts for the course
G. Montanari, E. Dellapiana, Una storia dell'architettura contemporanea, Turin: UTET Università, 2015, capp. 5-16, pp. 119-535;
W.J.R. Curtis, Modern architecture since 1900, London: Phaidon, 1982 and following editions;

Other handbooks
M. Tafuri, F. Dal Cò, Modern architecture, New York-Milan: Rizzoli-Electa, 1979 and following editions;
K. Frampton, Modern Architecture: A Critical History, London: Thames and Hudson, 1980 and following editions;
M. Biraghi, Storia dell’architettura contemporanea, I, 1750-1945, Turin: Einaudi, 2008;
M. Biraghi, Storia dell’architettura contemporanea, II, 1945-2008, Turin: Einaudi, 2008;
D. Watkin, A History of Western Architecture, London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd., 1986 and following editions, chapters 9-12, from page 523 to the end;
G. Fanelli, R. Gargiani, Storia dell'architettura contemporanea, Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1998;
Andrea Bruno jr., Percorsi dell'architettura contemporanea, Rome: Carocci editore, 2006;
Storia dell'architettura italiana. Il primo Novecento, Ed. by G. Ciucci e G. Muratore, Milan: Electa, 2004;
Storia dell'architettura italiana. Il secondo Novecento, Ed. by F. Dal Co, Milan: Electa, 1997;
B. Secchi, La città del ventesimo secolo, Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2005.

The learning assessment takes place in two related phases: the presentation of the student’s exercise and the oral exam.
Each student is required to prepare a presentation of his/her exercise. The exercise is a focused investigation on a single building, architectural or urban project chosen by the student and approved by the teacher. Students can submit proposals for case studies for the exercise during the course lectures or by e-mail. Each student is required to perform bibliographical research about the chosen case study both on texts and handbooks of the course (see Referral texts), and other more specific monographs, essays and articles. The collation of the different sources aims to train the student’s criticism.
The exercise concludes in a 10-minutes speech in which the student shows and comments images, pictures and charts, such as plans, elevations, section and other technical drawings, of the selected case study in a Powerpoint or similar presentation. The presentation aims to train the student’s synthetic and communicational skills.
After the presentation, the teacher makes two questions on the course programme. The questions aim more to outline the relationships between the case study of the exercise and some of the main issues of the course, rather than to assess pure mnemonic knowledge.

Teacher’s lectures, on-site inspections and student’s exercise.

Italian

The attendance at the course lessons is strongly recommended but not mandatory.
Those students who cannot attend the lessons can prepare for the exam with the referral texts for the course (see Referral texts), and agree the exercise topic with the teacher (personally during the reception time or by e-mail).

Oral exam