CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE II

The course 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.
The course aims to introduce students to the history and theories of modern and contemporary architecture, providing the necessary knowledge, critical and methodological tools to understand buildings and urban settlements of the twentieth century (1900-2000). Besides the study of design and construction, the creation, spread and transformation of architectural style, the course presents the connections of architecture with the social and cultural context, as well as other design disciplines such as town planning, industrial design, graphic design, fashion. Moreover, the course takes into consideration the most recent trends and challenges of architecture, from the integration of technology to the environmental issues, from restoration and conservation to the design with parametric computer software. Finally, the course deals with the transformations of the architect and its work, and the historiographical questions connected to the concept of “Modern Movement” or “Modernism”.

It is expected that, by the end of the course, students will develop the following knowledge and skills:
- Knowledge and Comprehension. Students are required to understand the connections between architectural forms and historical context, tracing the cultural, symbolic, social, economic factors of the modern and contemporary architecture. They are also required to critically interpret and use the taxonomic categories and periodization of the most common historiography, such as the concepts of “Avant-garde”, “Modern Movement” or “Modernism”, “Post-modernism” and so on;
- Analysis and Discernment. Students have to acquire ability in discerning the formal and constructive characters of the main works of twentieth-century architecture, being able to describe them with a proper terminology. They also have to discern the distinctive elements of the most important approaches in design. The course aims to develop these skills in the classroom and field trips. In this way, students will be able to analyse, describe and temporally locate even twentieth-century architectural works, which were not part of the course;
- Assessment Skills. Students must be able to discuss an assigned topic or an issue. They have to show independence in the assessment and in the critical arguments, formulate thoughtful and motivated judgements on authors, works and trends of modern and contemporary architecture, with a particular attention to economics and production, design, construction, technology, aesthetics and culture;
- Communication. Students must be able to clearly communicate the contents of the course with the due terminology; and efficiently debate the different topics of modern and contemporary architecture or their subjects of study, also in a comparative perspective.
- Research and Investigation. Students have to learn how to do a bibliographical research on the main topics of the course, autonomously collect those references that are useful for the investigation of the couse topics or their own research.

A good knowledge about European and world history in the twentieth century.

The course offers a narrative of the modern and contemporary architecture through some of the most significant figures, as well as the artworks and buildings that represents at best the theoretical, design, technical, and historiographical questions of the period. Rather than a fleeting, all encompassing survey of the twentieth-century architecture, the course aims to provide students with those interpretative and research tools, which allows them to understand modern and contemporary architecture through exemplary cases.
The course develops along the following programme:
- Introduction to the discipline and explanation of the assessment methods; problems of periodization and geopolitics in the twentieth-century architecture; historiography of the “Modern Movement”.
- 1. The Avant-Guard Movements: Futurism, Russian Constructivism, Amsterdam School and De Stijl, Adolf Loos, German Expressionism, Bauhaus and its figures.
- 2. Modernisms: the so-called “masters” of the Modern Movement (Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto), “Razionalismo” and classicism in Fascist Italy, modernisms and classicisms in Europe between the wars.
- Seminary on the historiography of the “Modern Movement”: Pevsner, Giedion, Banham.
- 3. Crisis of the "Modern Movement": From Modern Movement to International Style; Architecture, history and memory in post-war Italy, Louis Kahn; the heirs of the Modern Movement in Brazil, Europe, the United States and Beyond; Neo-avant-garde, High-Tech and Metabolism; Architecture in post-war Spain and Portugal.
- 4. Beyond Modernism: Post-modernism; Aldo Rossi; Architecture on show: "Five Architects" and "Deconstructivist Architecture".

Compulsory Handbook (one among the following)
G. Montanari, E. Dellapiana, Una storia dell'architettura contemporanea, Torino: UTET Università, 2015;
J. L. Cohen, The Future of Architecture. Since 1889, London: Phaidon, 2012.

Further Readings
M. Biraghi, Storia dell’architettura contemporanea, I, 1750-1945, Torino: Einaudi, 2008;
M. Biraghi, Storia dell’architettura contemporanea, II, 1945-2008, Torino: Einaudi, 2008;
W.J.R. Curtis, L'architettura moderna del Novecento, Londra: Phaidon, 2006.
K. Frampton, Storia dell'architettura moderna, Bologna: Zanichelli, 1982 e successive edizioni;
G. Fanelli, R. Gargiani, Storia dell'architettura contemporanea, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1998;
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;
M. Tafuri, F. Dal Cò, Architettura Contamporanea, Milano: Electa 1976 e successive edizioni;
D. Watkin, Storia dell’architettura occidentale, Bologna: Zanichelli, 1986.

Anthologies
Antologia dell'architettura moderna, a cura di M. De Benedetti, A. Pracchi, Bologna: Zanichelli, 1988;
Architettura italiana del Novecento, a cura di Giorgio Ciucci e Francesco Dal Co, Milano: Electa 1990;
Le parole dell’architettura, a cura di M. Biraghi e G. Damiani, Torino: Einaudi, 2009.

Dictionaries and encyclopaedias of architecture
Texts for the seminary on Historiography
N. Pevsner, Pioneers of the Modern Movement: From Williamo Morris to Walter Gropius, London: Faber & Faber, 1936, Chapt. 1. Theories of Art from Morris to Gropius, pp. 14-43;
S. Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition, Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press, 1941, Introduction and Part VI. Space-time in Art, Architecture, and Construction, pp. 429-476.
R. Banham, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age, London: The Architectural Press, 1960, Introduction and Section I: Predisposing causes: academic and rationalist writers, 1900-1914, pp. 9-97.

The learning assessment takes place during the final exam. Different factors contribute to the definition of the final grade according to the following percentages.
1. Participation (10%): ability to comment, pose and answer questions during classes, seminars and on-site visits in a qualified and critical way.
2. Group work (20%), virtual exhibition: selection of the topic, formulation of the contents, display of the works, narrative a final presentation of the virtual exhibition.
3. Personal paper (20%), critical paper (max. 4000 charatcters) with images and bibliography: collection of facts and application of the knowledge learned in the course, critical analysis of sources, ability to argument clearly and concisely, treatment of the main historiographical and architectural issues in writing a personal paper on a building, a project or an architect. Non-attending students can substitute points 2 and 3 with the reading of theoretical texts of architecture taken from the anthology by De Benedetti and Pracchi (see bibliography) and the writing of a critical paper (maximum 10,000 characters) to be delivered ten days before the oral exam.
4. Oral Exam (50%): The oral exam take place in three steps:
a. Discussion of the personal paper or the chosen theoretical texts (point 3);
b. Three multiple-choice questions on the course programme;
c. One question on a topic of the course programme.

For both attending and non-attending students, the scale of grades is the following:
Knowledge and comprehension: 18-22, poor; 23-26, satisfactory; 27-30, good; 30 e lode, excellent.
Interpretation of phenomena and criticism: 18-22, poor; 23-26, satisfactory; 27-30, good; 30 e lode, excellent.
Communication and technical language: 18-22, poor; 23-26, satisfactory; 27-30, good; 30 e lode, excellent.

Teacher’s lectures, seminars, and on-site visits.

Italian

The attendance at the course classes is strongly recommended.
The course programme for attending and non-attending students is the same. Non-attending students can substitute the group work and the personal paper with the reading of some theoretical essays of architecture and the writing of a critical paper on them (maximum 10.000 characters). Students can choose theoretical writings through the course page in Moodle or writing to the teacher. Students must upload the critical paper in the proper Moodle page 10 days before the exam.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Cities, infrastructure and social capital" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development