Spatial Histories - Google Docs PDF

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DYB114 - Spatial Histories Week 1 Lecture Introduction to Unit  “The history of architecture is primarily a history of man shaping space.” - Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of European Architecture, 1943  This foundation unit introduces the history of the built environment that will inform your study of global architectures that have occurred. It is designed to integrate the discipline specific content of architecture, interior architecture and landscape architecture within the broad context of a global understanding of spatial histories from multiple perspectives.  The unit addresses key designs, ideas and issues that have shaped the aesthetic, environmental, socio-cultural and political factors that related to their production. It enables you to become familiar with the critical moments and paradigm shifts of the built environment through global perspectives; and develop an understanding of yourself as a participant in the continuum of the rich cultural tradition of designing and making places for human inhabitation.   Unit Learning Outcomes 1. Describe and discuss the relevance and purpose of the study of history 2. Demonstrate knowledge of global architectures, people, events and history. 3. Describe and discuss linkages between selected theoretical, social and cultural exemplars and their influences on change. 4. Critically analyse sources and develop well-considered, logical, written responses and arguments, using a preliminary application of architectural vocabulary.  Assessment 1 - Essay (Compare and Contrast) Due - Week 11, Friday October 9th 2000 words 60%  Assessment 2 - Exam Exam Week 90 Minutes 40% 

   Mentioned Pantheon, Rome, 500 BC-AD 476 ● Part of the canon of architectural history Three Graces, Greco Rome Period Three Graces, medieval Period Three Graces, Renaissance Period Three Graces, Contemporary Le Corbusier Villa Savoye, France, 1928-1931 Model of Insula, 64 AD, Roman (apartment building) Vitruvian Man, da Vinci Karim Rashid Shakers (1760 - Present)

Week 2: The Canon What is the canon? Is the canon just in history? What kind of history? ‘STARchitects’ & seminal buildings Once you are deemed to be apart of the canon, all of their buildings are canon (Kahn, Meir, Mayne, Botta, Mejouk)

Aesthetics & Formalism Formalism: describes the critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art or architecture is its form - the way it is made and its purely visual aspects.

Is the canon important? A canon of important buildings does not exist. It is not just a fantasy of doctrine-minded historians. There are, in fact, “great buildings”, buildings that are rightfully considered to be “masterpieces”. To deny this is absurd. By opposition, the “non-canonical” approach to building history is an undue particularization based on denying that great architecture is possible. It serves as an attempt to deconstruct our capability to build buildings representing a specific view of our  dreams and place in the world, our cosmological Weltanschauung.

Styles: Styles take their names from many sources and are characterised by the features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. A style may include such elements as form, method of construction, and regional character. Most architecture can be classified with a chronology of styles which changes over time reflecting changing fashions, beliefs and religions, or the emergence of new ideas (paradigm shifts), technology, or materials which make new styles possible. Styles are not homogenous or static but complex amalgams of old and new forms. Styles emerge from the history of a society. At any time several styles may be fashionable, and when a style changes it usually does so gradually, as designers learn and adapt to new ideas. The new style is sometimes only a rebellion against an existing style, such as postmodernism. Styles often spread to other places, so that the style at its source continues to develop in new ways while other countries follow with their own variations. For instance, Renaissance ideas emerge in italy around 1425 and spread to all of europe over the next 200 years, with the French, German, English, and Spanish Renaissances showing recognisably the same style, but with unique characteristics. An architectural style may also spread through colonialism, either by foriegn colonies learning from their home country or by settlers moving to a new land.

Week 3: Critical Histories  “Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space” - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s “architecture of the times” (1924)  Historiography is the writing of history, especially the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particular details form the authentic materials in those sources, and the synthesis of those details into a narrative that stands the test of critical examination. The term historiography also refers to the theory and history of historical writing. The study of historiography demands a critical approach that goes beyond the mere examination of historical fact. Historiographical studies consider the source, often by researching the author, his or her position in society, and the type of history being written at the time. 

Paradigm Shift Definition : an important change that happens when the ursula way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way 

Art Deco (1920s-1940s) Named for the Exposition des Arts Decoratif et Industriel, held in Paris in 1925 ● Art deco came out of the modernist designs seen at the expo ● About mass production Style Includes ● Angular and geometric shapes ● Bold patterns and lines eg. sunbursts ● African, aztec and egyptian influence ● Stylised women ● Bold, sometimes clashing colours ● Exotic Materials The structure of Art Deco is based on geometric shapes, influenced by the ornaments and motifs of other cultures, Little focus on the functionality, fashion orientated style.  ●

Ism’s What are Ism’s? It means “taking side with” or “imitation of”, and is often used to describe philosophies, theories, religions, social movements, artistic movements, architecture and behaviour. The concept of an -ism may resemble that of a grand narrative.

Week 4: Home Spaces Guest Lecturer: Aso...