Architectural Cultures 1: Modernism (ABPL90288)

This subject surveys the ways in which architecture as a discipline and a profession influenced, reciprocated and sometimes shaped the changing ideological, social and political environment of the 20th century and after.

It identifies key ideas and interventions at different scales ranging from domestic buildings to urban institutions and environments.

Who/what were the agents, organizations, projects and users – and what were their legacies?

Each lecture will link architectural movements and texts to built works and built environments focusing on specific examples and people that best illustrate key ideas. The theme of each lecture will be formulated around the critical analysis of the legacy of these various orientations and their positive or negative outcomes or reception.

Students will examine colonial and imperial cities, the European avant-garde, American modernism, CIAM 8 and social programs and utopian movements.