Introductory description

This module looks at the relationship of modern architecture to tradition and historic cities.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

• Introduction
• The International Style versus national modernisms
• Ruskin and the development of the conservation movement world-wide
• Urban Planning
• Urban Photography
• Modern Venice: Eugenio Miozzi
• Carlo Scarpa: restoration and renewal
• Le Corbusier’s global reach
• Venice 1960s & 1970s
• Contemporary Bridges

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the contested place of history and tradition within modern architectural practice
• Demonstrate an understanding of the varieties of international architectural modernism(s)
• Relate the urban history of Venice in the twentieth century to wider trends and ideas in international architecture
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of the architectural history of the periods
• Read and interpret maps and architectural plans.
• Demonstrate knowledge of relationships between architectural form and function.
• Situate buildings and urban developments within their historical, social and political contexts.
• initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
• ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
• familiarity with essential ICT skills
• ability to collaborate effectively with others
• show understanding of diverse viewpoints
• ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
• ability to formulate a sustained argument
• think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
• Demonstrate bibliographical skills at an appropriate level
• Analyse cultural artefacts in their context

Indicative reading list

Filippo Bricolo,' Carlo Scarpa and the story of Castelvecchio. Narratological analysis of the Sculpture Gallery', Festival dell'Architettura Magazine, Vol 0, Iss 45/46 (2019), pp 38-47
Eugene Le Corbusier, 'The Venice Hospital' in Œuvre complète Volume 8: 1965-1969, ed. Willy Boesiger, Basel, 2015
Adrian Forty, Concrete and Culture: A Material History, London, 2012
Miles Glendinning, The Conservation Movement: a History of Architectural Preservation , New York, 2013
Sarah Goldhagen, ‘Something to Talk About: Modernism, Discourse, Style’, The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 64.2 (2005), pp. 144-167
Peter Hall, Cities of Tomorrow – an Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design since 1880, Wiley-Blackwell, 2014
Eugenio Miozzi. Modern Venice between Innovation and Tradition 1931–1969, Clemens F. Kusch (ed), Berlin, 2021
Andrés Ros Campos, 'Carlo Scarpa: architecture, abstraction and museology', VLC Arquitectura, Vol 6, Iss 2 (2019, pp 147-174
Mahnaz Shah, Le Corbusier’s Venice Hospital Project. An Investigation into its Structural Formulation, London, 2017
Shabnam Yazdani Mehr, 'Analysis of 19th and 20th Century Conservation Key Theories in Relation to Contemporary Adaptive Reuse of Heritage Buildings', Heritage 2 (2019).

View reading list on Talis Aspire

International

This module is taught in Venice through class-based learning, on-site seminars and external study visits. It enables students to live and study in another country and culture.

Subject specific skills

By the end of the module students should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the contested place of history and tradition within modern architectural practice
• Demonstrate an understanding of the varieties of international architectural modernism(s)
• Relate the urban history of Venice in the twentieth century to wider trends and ideas in international architecture
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of the architectural history of the periods
• Read and interpret maps and architectural plans
• Demonstrate knowledge of relationships between architectural form and function
• Situate buildings and urban developments within their historical, social and political contexts

Transferable skills

By the end of the module students should be able to

• initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
• ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
• familiarity with essential ICT skills
• ability to collaborate effectively with others
• show understanding of diverse viewpoints
• ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
• ability to formulate a sustained argument
• think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
• employ conceptual and visual analysis
• demonstrate bibliographical skills at an appropriate level
• analysise cultural artefacts in their context