The course involves a systematic but not exhaustive review of the major theories of architecture. It situates them chronologically, from Antiquity to the present. The course identifies recurring theoretical questions and possible causes for their recurrence. It also identifies more ephemeral questions and looks at their conditions of emergence and disappearance. The course puts theoretical elements into confrontation with concrete examples. Notions like the Vitruvian triad and its interpretations, the myth of the primitive hut, rules and the classical orders, models, the human body and proportion, objectivity and subjectivity of architecture, the "tabula rasa", technology and poetics, will be raised and discussed.
By the end of this course, students will be able to: Develop an overall view of the major theories of architecture within Western cultural tradition, Distinguish the themes and recurrent questions, Situate the "origins", the major stages of development, and the moments of rupture within the field of architecural theory, Take a personal position within a theoretical debate.
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
