Arch 6210 - Arch 3601
HISTORY OF AmericaN ARCHITECTURE HISTORY OF AmericaN ARCHITECTURE HISTORY OF AMeRiCan
A History of AMERICAN Architecture
SYLLABUS
CONTENT
What makes an architecture identifiably American? Is this a question of geography or culture? Is there a distinctly American outlook on architecture? What may be its distinguishing characteristics? What would be its lineages and its distinct contributions?
In search of answers, this course traces the history of architecture in North America from the early colonial settlements in the late 17th century to the corporate architecture of the late 20th century. The various formal languages and theories that have shaped the history of architecture in North America since the 17th century will each be discussed in relation to and as the expression of an emerging culture in the North American continent. Greater emphasis will be placed on developments in the 20th century.
OBJECTIVE
Treating the history of architecture as a history not of buildings per se, but of cultural beliefs and ideas, values and aesthetic ideals made tangible through architectonic forms and experiences, this course seeks to further your ability to analyze and understand the unique formal vocabulary of architecture and its expressive potential, as well as the complex and instrumental dialogue between architecture and culture. Emphasis will be placed on the development of an analytical approach to the study of architecture.
PREREQUISITE
History of Architecture I & II or equivalent.
FORMAT
This course will meet twice a week Online on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:00 to 10:15 PM for lecture, presentation, and discussion sessions.
READING
The required text for this course, available through campus store, is:
Leland M. Roth
American Architecture: A History
Routledge; 2nd edition, 2015
The following texts are highly recommended:
Louis H Sullivan
Kindergarten Chats and Other Writings
Martino Fine Books; Illustrated edition, 2014
Frank Lloyd Wright
In the Cause of Architecture: Essays (Paperback)
New York: Mcgraw-Hill, 1987
Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Philip Johnson
The International Style
New York: W. W. Norton & Company, reissue edition, 1997
Robert Venturi, Steven Izenour, Denise Scott Brown
Learning from Las Vegas - Revised Edition: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form
Cambridge: The MIT Press; revised edition, 1977
The reading assignments for each week are listed in the Lecture Outline.
The lectures and the reading assignments do not necessarily cover the same material, nor do they necessarily follow the same sequence in presentation. Rather, they are intended to complement each other, provide different points of view on each subject, and aid you in developing a critical approach to the study of architecture and its history.
REQUIREMENTS
Your performance is evaluated on the bases of individual command of course material and the assigned readings as evidenced by effective synthesis of course material and completion of three Online exams. You will complete each exam Online at Canvas in class on the following dates:
Exam 1: Monday, February 22, 2021
Exam 2: Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Exam 3: Monday, May 10, 2021
In addition to the three exams, you are required to complete a two person team research project on a contemporary architect of your choosing within limits that are specified in the research project assignment sheet. The research project will culminate in a 20 minutes class presentation delivered on the last two weeks of classes.
The exams and the research project will each count for 25% of the final grade for the course.
Your success in this class depends on constant and effective engagement with the course material. To this end, you are required to complete the assigned readings prior to each class and to write a one to two-page synopsis of the material covered in lectures and assigned readings for each week. These will be of great assistance to you in answering the exam questions. Please carefully read the detailed explanation of the exam requirements at the end of this syllabus.
EXTRA CREDIT
You may choose, at your own discretion, to take an extra credit exam covering the course content from the first and the second exams. This should be helpful to anyone who may not have done as well as hoped in the first two exams. The extra credit exam will be given on:
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
If you choose to take this extra credit exam, your final grade will be based on 4 exams and a research project (20% each), rather than 3 exams and a research project (25% each).
ATTENDANCE
You are required to attend every class and actively participate in class discussions. Your Zoom video must be on for the duration of each class. Every unexcused absence will result in the lowering of your final grade by a third of a numeric grade (for example, from C+ to C). Four or more unexcused absences will result in a failing grade for the course. Absences will be excused by prior and/or timely notice due to family emergencies, medial reasons, established religious holidays, and unforeseen technical problems.
ONLINE
You can access this syllabus on Canvas or directly at Arch 6210/3601.
Individual dates in the Lecture Outline of the Online syllabus will be linked to a QuickTime movie of the visual material presented in class on that date.
You can download a list of buildings that may be covered in Lectures here: Building List
CONTACT
Please feel free to contact me by e-mail with any questions or concerns you may have, or to set up a time to meet Online at a mutually convenient time. My e-mail address is amir.ameri@ucdenver.edu. I will also be available to answer any questions you may have after each class.
UNIVERSITY WIDE POLICIES
Please review the following university wide policies:
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Procedures
LECTURE OUTLINE
____________________________________
Lecture Topic
Tentative Date
Reading Assignment
____________________________________
The Colonial Encounters
____________________________________
17th Century Colonial Architecture
Roth: pp. 3-67
____________________________________
REVOLUTION AND The Birth of a NATION
____________________________________
Georgian Architecture in the American Colonies
January 27
Roth: pp. 69-115
___________________________________
Neoclassicism and Nationalism
Roth: pp.117-183
___________________________________
The Age of Revivals
____________________________________
Industrialization and the Gothic Revival
Roth: pp. 183-221
____________________________________
Historicism and Revivalism
Roth: pp. 223-277
____________________________________
February 22 First Exam
____________________________________
A Question of Style!
____________________________________
Chicago and the "Commercial Style"
Roth: pp. 279-316, 333-351
Recommended Reading: Sullivan: pp.177-241
____________________________________
At The Edge of Modernity
____________________________________
Frank Lloyd Wright and the California architects
March 8
Roth: pp. 316-333
Recommended Reading: Wright, 1908 & 1914 articles
____________________________________
Between the wars: the FUTURE and the PASt
____________________________________
Modernity and Nostalgia
Roth: pp. 353-423
Recommended Reading: Wright: 1927 & 1928 articles
Recommended Reading: Hitchcock and Johnson: The International Style
____________________________________
In the aftermath
____________________________________
Post-War Modernity in America
Roth: pp. 425-497
Recommended Reading: Wright, 1952 article
____________________________________
March 31 Second Exam
____________________________________
The Voice of the Next Generation
____________________________________
Beyond Modernity
Roth: pp. 499-579
Recommended Reading: Venturi and Scott Brown, pp.87-163
___________________________________
AFTER MODERNITY
____________________________________
The Trajectory of Post-Modernity
Roth: pp. 581-611
___________________________________
Continuity and Disjunction
____________________________________
Presentations
April 28
____________________________________
May 10 Third Exam
____________________________________
May 12 Extra Credit Exam
____________________________________
Exams
Chartres is made of stone and glass. But it is not just stone and glass; it is a cathedral, and not only a cathedral, but a particular cathedral built at a particular time by certain members of a particular society. To understand what it means, to perceive it for what it is, you need to know rather more than the generic properties of stone and glass and rather more than what is common to all cathedrals. You need to understand also - and, in my opinion, most critically - the specific concepts of the relations among God, man, and architecture that, since they have governed its creation, it consequently embodies. (Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, Harper, New York, 1973)
To every work of architecture there is a what and there is a why. The what pertains to its tangible characteristics. The why pertains to the intangible reasons, ideas, beliefs, and ideals that condition every work of architecture and transform the work into a cultural artifact.
Every work of architecture is essentially a composition, i.e., it is comprised of distinct parts placed in a particular relationship to each other for a particular purpose. To understand a work of architecture requires, first and foremost, an analysis of the work. It entails separating and identifying its constituent parts and their specific relationship to each other and to the whole work, e.g., the specific relationship between solids and voids, horizontals and verticals, of the inside to the outside, of structure to skin, of the building to its site, ornamentation, articulation, etc. This is, however, merely a first step. The more important step in understanding a work of architecture is the why of the work.
From a certain vantage point, architecture is an impossible task. Faced with multiple possibilities, the architect has no ground for the delimitation of her/his options. The functions of an edifice suggest no one form and much less a direction. In deference to biological needs, function is nebulous and multi-directional. However, function assumes a trajectory and becomes highly prescriptive, when it is appropriated by culture and transformed into a ritual. Though by no means singular, a ritual is distinct and unidirectional. It has unique spatial requirements. It demands a specific setting. It is this and similar prescriptive cultural appropriations that make architecture possible.
Every work of architecture points to a process of delimitation intended to give expression to a particular cultural proposition, theorem, or thesis. As such, every work of architecture serves to transform a culture’s assumptions about the world into a factual experience of them. The work shapes the world, in other words, after our image of it. In this process economy, ecology, and technology play an important role. They make the realization of certain dreams possible and others not. The shape any work of architecture takes is invariably conditioned by the interaction of these three forces within the broader cultural context
Therefore, to understand the why of any work of architecture is to understand the cultural rituals it is meant to provide for, the cultural experiences it is meant to instigate, and the ideas, the ideals, the beliefs it is meant to embody and express.
Throughout the term, we will address both the what and the why of every work of architecture we examine. Lectures will specifically emphasize the why. Your aim throughout the term should be to understand architecture in the sense explained above. In this vain, the point and purpose of the three required exams for this course are not to test your command of the facts, names, dates, and places, per se. Although you are expected to be in full command of the facts as such, the intent of the exams is to test your understanding of architecture. Mere and passive acquisition and repetition of information is not what is at issue. What the exams are meant to test is your active engagement with and the ability to comprehend and effectively synthesize diverse bodies of information and points of view provided in the lectures and reading assignments. What they are meant to foster is your ability to effectively analyze and hierarchically organize this information into a coherent and multi-layered picture that encompasses both the what and the why of architecture.
For each exam, you’ll be presented with multiple questions and asked to ascertain the accuracy of each.
You will complete each exam Online at Canvas during class time on the following dates:
Exam 1: Monday, February 22, 2021
Exam 2: Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Exam 3: Monday, May 10, 2021
All due dates should be strictly observed. In fairness to all, exceptions will only be made due to medical or personal emergencies.
The exams will each count for one fourth of the final grade.
Your success in this class depends on constant and effective engagement with the course material. To this end, you are required to complete the assigned readings prior to each class and to write a one to two-page synopsis of the material covered in lectures and assigned readings for each week. These will be of great help to you in answering the exam questions. At all cost, make certain you do not fall behind in completing your weekly reading assignments. Given the complexity and scope of the material covered, you will not be able to comprehend and effectively answer the exam questions, if you do not complete your weekly assignments on time.
Exam Grade
If your exam score is 93 or higher, you will receive a grade of A for the exam. If your exam score is 89 to 92, you will receive a grade of A- for the exam. If your exam score is 85 to 88, you will receive a grade of B+ for the exam. If your exam score is 81 to 84, you will receive a grade of B for the exam. If your exam score is 78 to 80, you will receive a grade of B- for the exam. If your exam score is 75 to 77, you will receive a grade of C+ for the exam. If your exam score is 71 to 74, you will receive a grade of C for the exam. If your exam score is 68 to 70, you will receive a grade of C- for the exam. If your exam score is 65 to 67, you will receive a grade of D+ for the exam. If your exam score is 61 to 64, you will receive a grade of D for the exam. If your exam score is 58 to 60, you will receive a grade of D- for the exam. If your exam score is less than 58, you will receive a grade of F for the exam.
Research Project
This assignment is meant as an opportunity for you to acquire a greater understanding of the current architectural issues and concerns and the wider social, cultural, and political forces that shape them. This would be through a comprehensive study of the architectural projects and writings of an influential contemporary American architect.
You are to choose one architect from the list below whose work is of particular interest to you:
Elizabeth Diller, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Steven Holl, Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi, Thom Mayne, Antoine Predock, Jeanne Gang, Toshiko Mori, Billie Tsien and Tod Williams, William McDonough, Michael Graves, Richard Mier, I. M. Pei.
You will present your research to the class during a 20-minute presentation at the culmination of the semester.
Your research and presentation should include:
Your presentation should not exceed 20 minutes in duration. It should, therefore, be carefully thought out and economically worded. It should be prepared, written, and rehearsed in advance. It should include graphic documentation that is thoughtfully organized to demonstrate your points. Your coverage of the material and the presentation should clearly go far beyond the reading assignments and pertinent lecture materials. Your work will be evaluated based on your comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and effective coverage of the above areas as evidenced by your presentation. Your presentation will also be evaluated based on the amount of discussion and pertinent questions it generates in class.
Please feel free to seek my advice and help throughout the process.
You may wish to consult these general source-books as a first step:
K. Michael Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2000
A. Krista Sykes, Constructing a New Agenda: Architectural Theory 1993-2009, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2010
Evaluation Criteria
Your presentation will be evaluated based on the following criteria. Please make certain you effectively address each criterion in your project.
The presentation will be given a numeric grade from 1 to 5 for criteria 1 through 8. An excellent and exemplary response to a criterion will receive a grade of 5. A very good and comprehensive response will receive a grade of 4. A satisfactory response will receive a grade of 3. An incomplete response will receive a grade of 2. An unsatisfactory response will receive a grade of 1.
If the average of all the numeric grades is between 4.6 and 5, the project will receive a grade of A. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 4.3 and 4.6, the project will receive a grade of A-. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 4 and 4.3, the project will receive a grade of B+. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 3.7 and 4, the project will receive a grade of B. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 3.3 and 3.7, the project will receive a grade of B-. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 3 and 3.3, the project will receive a grade of C+. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 2.7 and 3, the project will receive a grade of C. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 2.3 and 2.7, the project will receive a grade of C-. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 2 and 2.3, the project will receive a grade of D+. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 1.7 and 2, the project will receive a grade of D. If the average of all the numeric grades is between 1.3 and 1.7, the project will receive a grade of D-. If the average of all the numeric grades is less than 1.7, the project will receive a grade of F.
Arch 6210 - Arch 3601