HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

The course is aimed to understand the characteristics of contemporary architecture from the early decades of the Twentieth Century until today, by exploiting the main changes, in particular the evolution of the concept of “modernity” in the transition from the era of mechanization at the introduction of information technology into everyday life, with all that this has meant for the birth of new manifestations in the architectural field at different levels (compared to the adopted methods, to the proliferation of new languages and new theories), accompanied by an abnormal development of the contemporary metropolis.
Teaching objectives are:
To understand how a design contemporary culture is formed; what are the approaches that have historically contributed to a progressive identification of the languages, to a their recognition from the aesthetic point of view, such as to mark an era; how to orient themselves inside of the variegated contemporary architectural panorama; to be able to critically evaluate contemporary architecture and the its evolution over the time compared to the physical characteristics of the buildings, to the type of functionalities developed, to the action exerted over the society, to the relationship with the surrounding environment.

It is particularly important for students to become aware of contemporary architectural reality by learning to distinguish between the different theories, methods, the adopted approaches that lead to heterogeneous results from many points of view, ultimately capturing the individual characteristics of the current historical moment and the complexity of situations that characterize its becoming; complexity of which contemporary history architecture is one of the most tangible expressions. In the presentation of the topics the student must demonstrate sufficient critical spirit and adequate descriptive skills.

Knowledge of the basic features of the history of architecture, adquired through the basic teachings of the first three-years degrees.

The historical excursus starts from the first decades of the 20th century until today through the analysis of a selection of topics related to the changes taking place, the work of some of the main protagonists, the study of the different theories and buildings realized.

Basic manuals:
- Josep Maria Montaner, Dopo il movimento moderno. L'architettura della seconda metà del Novecento, Bari, Laterza, 2008.
- William J. Curtis, L'architettura moderna dal 1900, New York, Phaidon, 2006.
- Marco Biraghi, Storia dell’architettura II (1945-2008), Torino, Einaudi, 2008.

On the relation between contemporary architecture and urban space evolution:
- P. Mello, Metamorfosi dello spazio. Annotazioni sul divenire metropolitano, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2002.
For more further information on the historial period 1955-1975:
- P. Mello, Neoavanguardie e controcultura a Firenze. Il Movimento Radical e i protagonisti di un cambiamento storico internazionale, Firenze, Angelo Pontecorboli, 2017.

For attending students, of the individual manuals will be indicated the parts to be studied according to the order of the topics covered in class.
A list of articles and of monograph will be included on the moodle platform for an optionally in-depht study of the topics covered during the course.

The exam will be in the form of an oral interview and will focus on the topics developed during the course and present in the texts indicated in the bibliography.

Lectures during which various materials will be indicated (interviews, exhibitions, short films online), as a further study of the topics covered.

Italian

Attendance is not mandatory but recommended.
For those interested it will be possible to take a guided tour at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition titled “How will we live together?” which will take place from May 23rd to November 29th 2020, curated by architect, lecturer and researcher Hashim Sarkis.
Specific indications will be provided during the lessons to visit contributions and works of contemporary architecture in Venice.

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