Professor Lauren O'Connell

Art History 376-49000-01

Fall 2001

Office: Gannett 100/274-1377

oconnell@ithaca.edu

"I would have the Temple made so beautiful that the Imagination should not be able to form an Idea of any Place more so" (Alberti, Ten Books of Architecture, Bk. VII, Ch. III)

From Le Camus de Mézières' metaphorical, "Architecture is like a beautiful woman; she should please in herself; she needs few ornaments," to Mies van der Rohe's pithy "less is more," architects tend to wax poetic when describing their craft. This seminar will focus on the work of architects whose reputations rest as firmly on their eloquent writings as on their designs and buildings. We will concentrate first on the evolution of the genre in Europe from the 15th to the 18th centuries; during this period many of the conventions that still guide architecture theorizing in the West took shape. During the balance of the course we will consider a range of writings from the modern period, concluding with a selection of contemporary ruminations.

We will read and analyze individual texts in conjunction with buildings designed by the author and/or his contemporaries, in each case asking questions about the relationships between writing and building, between theory and practice. Do the two creative forms illuminate, complement, or contradict one another? Palladio's "what contributes to conveniency is that the rooms for summer be ample, spacious, and turned to the north; and those for the winter to the south and west," seems a straightforward key to his design process; but what are we to make of Louis Kahn's less helpful "the rooms talk to each other and they decide what their positions are?"

Our principal sources for the study of architectural writing will be the primary ones--the architects' original writings, in most cases in translation.

The architects' writings will be supplemented by readings from a variety of secondary sources, On Reserve in the Library. These will contribute interpretive and historical context. The secondary materials will introduce us to the vast literature on the subject and engage us with historiographic (the history of the study of architectural theory) questions.

• The International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture. Detroit, 1993. (Ref, NA 40 .I48 1993)
• Johnson, Paul-Alan. The Theory of Architecture: Concepts, Themes, and Practices. New York, 1994.
• Kruft, Hanno-Walter. A History of Architectural Theory from Vitruvius to the Present. Princeton, 1994.
• The MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects. NY, 1982. (Ref, NA 40 M25 1982)
• Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture, Charles Jencks and Karl Kropf, eds. New York, 1997.

The success of a seminar depends upon the active participation of its members. We will work in a round-table format, discussing readings and slides as a group. Readings must be done before class meets. Please take advantage of the inelegant photocopied format of your readings to underline or highlight important points; mark up the margins with comments and questions. It will also be useful to outline the gist of each reading on separate sheets to refresh your memory during class sessions. Attendance is required. If possible, please notify me in advance if you will be absent.

Each student will complete three assignments: 1) occasional oral and written synopsis of selected readings, 2) a preliminary oral report on the progress of your research, and 3) a research paper, with oral presentation. The final grade will be based on these items and on class participation.

• Introduction: Architecture and Poetry (September 10)
• Vitruvius and the Idea of Writing (September 17)
• Rule and Model/Alberti and Serlio (September 24)
• Palladio: The Book and the Buildings (October 1)
• Boullée and Le Camus de Mézières: Sensual and Sublime (October 8)
• FALL BREAK (October 15)
• Viollet-le-Duc and Architectural Others (October 22)
• Le Corbusier: Beyond Utilitarian Needs (October 29)
• Architecture as Sculpture: Maya Lin (November 5)
• Post-Modern Positions/Prelim Reports(November 12)
• THANKSGIVING (November 19)
• Architecture for a New Millenium: Gehry and Koolhaas (November 26)
• Student Presentations (December 3)
• Student Presentations (December 10)

• John Ruskin, The Poetry of Architecture (Philadelphia, s.d.), Introduction.
• Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space (Boston, 1969), passim.

VITRUVIUS AND THE IDEA OF WRITING

• Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture [1stC BC], eds. Ingrid Rowland and Thomas N. Howe (New York, 1999).

RULE AND MODEL: ALBERTI AND SERLIO

• Leon Battista Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books [1452, 1485], trans. Joseph Rykwert et. al. (New York, 1988), excerpts.
• Sebastiano Serlio on Architecture: Books I-V of 'Tutte l'Opere d'Architetettura et Prospetiva' [1537ff], trans. Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks (New Haven, 1996), excerpts.

PALLADIO: THE BOOK AND THE BUILDINGS

• Andrea Palladio, The Four Books on Architecture [1570], trans. Robert Tavernor and Richard Schofield (New York, 1997), excerpts.

BOULLEE AND LE CAMUS DE MEZIERES: SENSUAL AND SUBLIME

• Nicolas le Camus de Mézières, The Genius of Architecture; or, the Analogy of that Art with our Sensations [1780], trans. David Brett (Santa Monica, 1992), excerpts.
• Etienne-Louis Boullée, Architecture: An Essay on Art [1770-84], excerpts, in Elizabeth Holt, A Documentary History of Art, III (New Haven, 1986), 256-71.

VIOLLET-LE-DUC AND ARCHITECTURAL OTHERS

• Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène Emmanuel, The Habitations of Man in all Ages [1875], trans. Benjamin Bucknall, 1876 (New York, 1971), excerpts.
• The Architectural Theory of Viollet-le-Duc, M. F. Hearn, ed. (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990), excerpts.

LE CORBUSIER: BEYOND UTILITARIAN NEEDS

• Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture [1923], trans. Frederick Etchells, 1927 (New York, 1960), excerpts.
• Le Corbusier, The Modulor 1 & 2 [1954; 1958] (Cambridge, 1980), excerpts.

ARCHITECTURE AS SCULPTURE: MAYA LIN

• Film: "Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision" (PBS P.O.V./National Asian American Telecommunications Association, 1996)

POST-MODERN POSITIONS

• Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture, Charles Jencks and Karl Kropf, eds. (New York, 1997), excerpts.

ARCHITECTURE FOR A NEW MILLENIUM: GEHRY, KOOLHAAS & CO.

• Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large (New York, 1995), excerpts.
• Gehry Talks: architecture + process, eds. Mildred Friedman, Michael Sorkin (New York, 1999), excerpts.