CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE I

The course aims to provide the critical and methodological tools that allow the student to understand the themes and problems of contemporary architecture between the French Revolution and WWI. In particular, the themes of the relationship between architecture and its social and cultural context, the formation and dissemination of architectural languages, and historiographical problems will be addressed. Teaching is part of the activities that characterize the Contemporary curriculum of the Master's Degree in History of the arts and conservation of artistic heritage.

At the end of the course, the student must be able to:
- knowledge and understanding: understanding the link between architectural form and its historical motivations, recognizing the cultural, symbolic, social, and economic intentions behind contemporary architecture; understanding the instrumental meaning of taxonomic categories such as the style, eclectic, Art Nouveau, etc .; knowing the formal and constructive characteristics of the major architectural works of the nineteenth century; knowing the historical vocabulary of the main architectural terms, both stylistic and constructive
- ability to apply knowledge and understanding: the ability to identify the distinctive elements of the most important design and research approaches in 19th c. architecture; the ability to historically place 19. c. architectural works
- judgment skills: discuss an assigned topic or issue showing independence in evaluations and arguments; formulate thoughtful and motivated judgments on authors, works and trends of contemporary architecture, with particular attention to the relationship between economic-productive or technological factors and aesthetic-cultural aspects
- communication skills: express clearly and with appropriate terms various course contents; effectively discuss, also in comparative terms, the different themes of contemporary architecture treated
- learning skills: carry out a bibliographic search on the main topics covered in the course; autonomously find new texts that investigate the topics of greatest interest dealt with within the course

Basic knowledge of political, social and cultural history of the nineteenth century

The main topics of the course are:
- the problems of periodization and geopolitics of the "modern" and "contemporary", the notion of "architectural culture", notes on history and historiography
- the tradition and language of eclecticism; the debate on "national styles"; the architecture between social changes and the industrial revolution
- the rise of the large city and of urban planning
- the architectural languages of the early twentieth century between the artistic avant-gardes and the classical tradition

Barry Bergdoll, European Architecture 1750-1890, Oxford University Press, 2000
J. L. Cohen, The Future of Architecture. Since 1889, Phaidon, London 2012.


Antologia dell'architettura moderna, eds. M. De Benedetti, A. Pracchi, Zanichelli, Bologna 1988.
Le parole dell’architettura, eds. M. Biraghi e G. Damiani, Einaudi, Torino 2009.

A more specific bibliography will be distributed at the beginning of the course.

Students will have to participate in group work, or in the preparation of a virtual exhibition that will be the subject of collegial discussion. The individual research will then be delivered in writing to the instructor and will be part of the following final evaluation process:
- classroom presentation of the virtual exhibition. Participation in lessons (20%)
- Written short paper demonstrating active participation in the group work of the virtual exhibition: to be delivered to the instructor at the end of the course (20%). Text max 2 pages (excluding Bibliography and Illustrations), times new roman 12; space 1.5. Illustrations at the end of the text, with a list of illustrations. Final Bibliography: Sources; Studies, in alphabetical order.
-oral test (60%). The test will consist of three types of questions:
1) A group of 3 multiple choice questions on topics covered during the lessons
2) A question on a topic covered during the lessons to be developed
3) The discussion of the topic of individual research within group work

The course is organized on a seminar basis and includes lectures; presentations by students. Students will have to present research in class that will be the subject of collective discussion. The research will then be delivered in writing to the teacher and will be part of the final evaluation process.

Italian

Given the nature of the course, attendance is highly recommendable. Non-attending students must agree on a specific bibliography with the instructor (by appointment).

oral