History of Architecture II and LaboratoryModule History of Architecture II
Academic Year 2024/2025 - Teacher: BIBIANA BORZI'Expected Learning Outcomes
Course Structure
Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
Introduction to the study of Architectural History.
Arts and Crafts. Williams Morris.
Art Nouveau in the European context.
Catalan Modernism and Antoni Gaudí.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School.
The Viennese Secession: Otto Wagner, Joseph M. Olbrich and Josef Hoffmann.
Liberty in Italy.
Architecture and avant-garde. Antonio Sant’Elia and futurist architecture.
Adolf Loos.
Peter Behrens and the Deutsche Werkbund.
Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus.
Le Corbusier.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
Frank Lloyd Wright.
Organic architecture in Europe. Alvar Aalto.
The protagonists of the early 20th century in Italy (Terragni, Persico, Piacentini, Ponti).
Architecture in Rome during the Twenties.
Pier Luigi Nervi.
The International Style.
Louis Kahn.
Brutalism.
The Postmodern.
Notes about contemporary architecture (Renzo Piano, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, and others)
Dossiers dedicated to protagonists of modern and contemporary architecture and design, including: Gio Ponti, Achille Castiglioni, Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sottsass, Vico Magistretti.
Textbook Information
- Elena Dellapiana, Guido Montanari, Un storia dell'architettura contemporanea, Novara, UTET Università, 2015 (o successive edizione).
- Guido Montanari, Andrea Jr Bruno, Architettura e città del Novecento, Roma, Carrocci, 2009 (o successive edizioni)
- Leonardo Benevolo, Storia dell’architettura moderna, Bari, Editori La Terza, 1966 (o successive edizioni).
- Kenneth Frampton, Storia dell’architettura moderna, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1993 (o successive edizioni).
- Aldo Colonetti , Elena Brigi , Valentina Croci, Design italiano del XX secolo, Firenze, Giunti, 2008.
- Gabriella Lo Ricco, Le Corbusier, Firenze, Giunti, 2018.
- Jean Blanchaert, Gio Ponti, Firenze, Giunti, 2018.
- Le Corbusier, Verso l’architettura (1923), Milano, Longanesi, 2012 (o successive edizioni).
- Gio Ponti, Amate l’architettura. L’architettura è un cristallo (1957), Milano, Rizzoli, 2010 (o successive edizioni).
Additional bibliographic guidance may be provided in the course of the lectures.
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Art Nouveau, Avant-Garde and architecture, Organic architecture, the Masters of the Modern Movement, building the contemporary city, Architecture and totalitarianisms, Postmodern, from High tech to the city (R. Rogers and Renzo Piano), selection of topics on the contemporary architectural scene. | Attached bibliography. |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
The examination consists of an oral interview on the topics covered in the lectures and provided in the bibliography. Knowledge of the different moments that have characterized the history of architecture, between the end of the nineteenth century, the twentieth century and contemporary times, through the analysis of works and designers, is required. An integral part of the program, and thus of the final exam, is the reading of critical contributions by the masters examined (Ponti, Le Corbusier). The overall assessment will also take into account the skills attained (critical, methodological, analytical), participation and commitment shown during the lectures. In addition, the examination will include a paper scheduled for the History of Architecture Workshop, and the final grade will be single.
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
The exam includes questions on movements and protagonists in the history of architecture (through a selection of significant works) such as:
Art Nouveau and its diffusion in the European context.
Frank Lloyd Wright's organic architecture.
The masters of the Modern Movement (Gropius, Mies Van der Rohe, Le Corbusier).
Deconstructivism (Gehry, Libeskind).
The role of architecture in the poetics of Gio Ponti.
“Verso un'architettura” Le Corbusier.