Elective Course
Credits: 3-0-3 (3 semester hours)
Type of Course: Lecture
Instructors: Mark Cottle
Prerequisites ARCH 2112
Course Overview
In spite of the fact that Adolf Loos questioned the belonging of dwelling to the field of architecture, the idea of the home, of the primitive house, has always haunted architectural theory, as we can see in the account that Vitruvius provided. Beyond the polemic between Laugier and Semper, the dwelling raises questions that are relevant concerning oppositions such as: elementary/ concept, enclosure/place, wall/roof, skin/structure, etc.
In contrast with approaches that ruled the architecture of the house such as convenience, composition, syntax, contemporary architecture raises the peculiar and unstable dilemma of houses towards home, in other words, the question of hospitality versus inhospitality. Anthony Vilder, in his last book, "The Architectural Uncanny," discusses the relationship between the domestic environment and the notion of uncanny or “unheimlich” developed by Sigmund Freud.
Shifting, ephemeral, melancholic reveries, nostalgia of the lost birthplace, anxiety of the last shelter or burial place converge to establish the feeling of deracinated homes. In contrast, we remember the attempts to bypass the unhomliness of such a situation by tracing the new nature of artifact proposed by the fictions that developed the architects of the modern movement concerning housing as the major task of the architect. This evolution will be studied in relationship with aspects of scale, domestic and social life, architectural knowledge and practical skill, symbolic components.
These theoretical reflections will be coupled with a questioning of the role attributed in Europe (and in France in particular) to housing. Specially because, such a commission is, actually, the main way of professional recognition and count as a social and cultural contribution provide by the state. This is why the question of public housing and social housing is so fundamental in the architectural debate in Europe and that since a century in relationship with the political background it involves.
Learning Objectives
- To help the students gain knowledge of Modern theories and their influence on contemporary architecture.
- To stimulate an awareness of domestic spaces.
- To gain an understanding of the ordinary in architecture.
- To develop the students’ sensitivity on the question of architecture against the city, architecture against the human body.
Course Requirements
Beside regular attendance, each student must keep a notebook for class notes, consistent personal observations on the readings and comments on the visits that this class includes.
Each student will be expected to do:
- A paper to establish knowledge and understanding of the course.
- A well-established case-study that compares an hôtel particulier, an haussmannien apartment house and a Parisian project of housing drawn by Le Corbusier which will be documented at the Foundation Le Corbusier.
The basis for the final grade:
Paper 33%
Case Study 33%
Observation on the readings and visits 33%