Introduction to Critical Thought in Architecture (2019)

Critical theories and research approaches relevant to the field of architecture. Identification of issues through a coordinated series of lectures and readings. Development of analytical and interpretative skills through seminar discussions and writing culminating in a scholarly position paper by the student.

This lecture/ seminar provides a thematic overview of contemporary architectural history and theory. Students will be introduced to relationships between architectural idea, artifact and theoretical position through the examination of works built from the mid-twentieth to the early twenty-first century. Students will balance the study and analysis of architectural case studies and theoretical texts alongside readings of the philosophical texts contemporary architects have explicitly and implicitly referenced to
justify or support their work. This course will allow students to interrogate contemporary design practice as a social, cultural, political and philosophical act.