Chief aims
The Course aims to provide students with the methodological tools necessary for reading and interpreting the architecture of the contemporary age. The lessons will briefly illustrate the developments of the architectural activity through an appropriate selection of architects and works presented in the cultural, social and economic context, historicizing the role of the client, design guidelines, executive techniques. The final aim will be to allow students to acquire basic cognitive and critical means related to a reasoned knowledge of the historical evolution of architecture from the end of the 18th century to the 21st century, according to the articulation of its different components; secondly, to stimulate reflection and research with reference to the concrete planning effort required in other Courses.
Main subjects
Neoclassicism in architecture: the renewed interest in Greco-Roman architecture and the study of the Ancient, the archaeological discoveries and the theoretical debate. Architecture in the Age of Enlightenment: Boullée, Ledoux and Durand.
Nineteenth century
Architecture in the first half of the nineteenth century in German area. Prussia: the work of Karl Friedrich Schinkel (New Guard Corps, Prose Theater, Altes Museum, Friedrichwerder Church, Academy of Architecture, project for a department store). Bavaria: Leo von Klenze (Propylaea, Gliptoteca, Ruhmeshalle, Post Office, Royal Palace, Walhalla), Friedrich von Gärtner (Victory Gate, Marshals’ Loggia).
Urban renewal and architecture in European capitals in the second half of the nineteenth century. Growth and evolution of the city. Second Empire Paris; Vienna and the Ring; Florence, Rome.
Architecture and engineering. The use of iron and glass; reinforced concrete. From the first typological experiments to the end of the century.
Looking for a "new style". The crisis of historicist Ectettism. Art Nouveau: the work of Victor Horta. The Liberty (Raimondo d'Aronco, Giuseppe Sommaruga, Giovanni Michelazzi). The work of Antoni Gaudí (Park Güell, Casa Batlló and Milà, Sagrada Familia).
Twentieth century
Towards the new architecture. Otto Wagner's work: from the historicist debut to the Secession and to the protorationalism (Länderbank, Majolikahaus, Post Bank, St. Leopold am Steinhof, first and second Wagner villas). Ornament and crime: the architectural research by Adolf Loos (Michaelerplatz palace, Steiner, Scheu and Müller houses, project for Chicago Tribune building). Auguste Perret and reinforced concrete architecture between innovation and tradition (palace in rue Franklin, garage in rue de Ponthieu, church of Notre-Dame de Consolation in Le Raincy, house Cassandre, Public Works museum). Architecture and industry: the Deutscher Werkbund, Peter Behrens (AEG turbine factory).
The role of the Avant-gardes. Futurism: urban vision and architectural innovation in the Manifesto of Futurist architecture and in the drawings of Antonio Sant'Elia. De Stijl's poetics: Theo van Doesburg, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (Schröder house, red-blue chair). Architecture and revolution: the Russian Constructivism (Konstantin Melnikov: the Pavilion of the Soviet Union at the Paris Exposition, Rusakov workers circle).
The masters of twentieth century architecture in the first half of the twentieth century. Walter Gropius: from the Fagus factory to Bauhaus. Le Corbusier: Domino and Citrohan houses, the immeuble-villa; the 5 points of the new architecture and Villa Savoye. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: the five projects, the Weissenhof, the German pavilion at the Barcelona Universal Exposition, Tugendhat house.
Expressionism: Erich Mendelsohn (Einstein Tower, Schocken warehouses in Stuttgart). Frank Lloyd Wright and organic architecture: from the Chicago School to the Prairie Houses and the Cascade House.
Italian architecture between the two wars. Fascism and architecture: the Case del Fascio, the offices of the ONB. Group 7 and Miar. The Station of Florence, the University City of Rome, the major competitions. The work of Giuseppe Terragni in Como (Novocomum, Sant'Elia nursery, Casa del Fascio). The Other Modernity: Giovanni Muzio, Marcello Piacentini. The turning point: E 42.
Post-Second World War Architecture. Post-war reconstruction. The activities of the Masters: Le Corbusier (the Housing Unit of Marseille, convent de la Tourette, chapel of Ronchamp, Chandigarh), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (IIT Campus, Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, New National Gallery of Berlin), Frank Lloyd Wright (David Wright house, Guggenheim museum). Aalvar Alto (Baker House, Ravaniemi civic center, church of the Three Crosses of Imatra).
Beyond the Modern Movement. Oscar Niemeyer (Pampulha complex, Casa das Canoas, Brasilia, Niterói Museum of Contemporary Art), Eero Saarinen (Jefferson Memorial, General Motors Technical Center, Yale University Ice Palace, TWA Terminal, Dulles Airport, CBS Skyscraper), Louis Kahn (buildings in Dhaka, Exeter library). The Italian lesson: from the Velasca tower to the Teramo courthouse. Luigi Moretti. The Post Modern in the architecture of the eighties.
Trends in contemporary architectural research among minimalism, expressionist structuralism, deconstructivism, hi-tech and the revival of architectural tradition (Tadao Ando, Felix Candela, Santiago Calatrava, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, Daniel Libeskind, Mario Botta). Crisis and eclecticism of contemporary architecture.
Birth, development and crisis of the urban planning of the Modern Movement: from Le Corbusier to New Urbanism and the urban Renaissance.
Student reception - Examination procedures
During the first cycle (September-December 2019) the teacher will be available to students for any clarification on the topics and methods of the Course according to the calendar posted on-line, at the Department of Architecture, Section PAr (blue scale, II ° floor) or, limited to synthetic communications, to the e-mail address: m.villani@unich.it
The exam is individual: the student must demonstrate the knowledge of historical-critical framing of the works and the topics dealt, also through the aid of synthetic graphic schemes (plans, elevations, sections). Further information regarding the examination procedures will be provided during the Course.
General bibliography
Below are the basic texts for exam preparation, to complement the content of the lessons. More detailed bibliographic references, aimed at deepening the specific topics addressed, will be provided during the lessons and / or during the reception hours:
S. CIRANNA, G. DOTI, M. L. NERI, Architecture and city in the nineteenth century, Rome 2011
W. J. R. CURTIS, Modern Architecture from 1900, London 2005.
