Please see my question below.
Select a topic that we’ve covered in our three Meaning modules (Modules 4, 5 & 6) and explore it in a short essay (introduction, body, conclusion). Be sure to develop a position on the topic and to clearly state this position in your thesis. It is often useful to think of a research question that you can answer since the essay should be analytical and not merely informational. This is not a research paper (though research is required) – your essay should make a statement!
500 words in length. Reference notation will not count towards the total word count (bibliography/footnotes).
Journal Entry (25 points)
- Timely Submission (1 point)
- Strong and well organized thesis statement (2 points)
- Presence of critical thinking and analysis – Correctly interpreting lecture material and integrating it into essay (10 points)
- Use of at least two external citations from books, book chapters, or academic journals (5 points)
- Use of first source material – original writing of the theorist/philosopher (2 points)
- Quality of writing and organizational structure, grammar and spelling (5 points)
References will be in either MLA or Chicago style. The journal entry should build from the course material and is the major mechanism for determining the student’s retention and comprehension of the material. References to the lecture material and a return to first source writings is necessary. Relating the theme’s content to contemporary concerns is also required.
Meaning: The effect of new understanding
of dimensionality on architecture of the
early 20th Century; plasticity as applied to
architecture and the removal of the frame;
form and meaning as interpreted through
language structure and verbal signs,
emotion and realism (Postmodernism);
myths and the communication of meaning;
phenomenology and the experience of
place; irony and wit as access to meaning in
postmodern architecture; the diagram as
access to non-historical meaning, self-
referentiality and architecture accessing
architecture
Readings:
Mitrović, Philosophy for Architects, 117-125,
128-131, 137-141, 148-166.
Leach, “Architecture of the Catwalk” in
The Anaesthetics of Architecture, 55-70
Ballantyne, Deleuze & Guattari for Architects
(excerpt – PDF)
THEME #3 Meaning
Module 4: Meaning: The Modern period is defined as
moving away from mysticism and using
doubt as a tool for acquiring knowledge;
defining architecture and it’s rules for
judgment; body metaphors, introduction of
relative priorities; mechanics as the source
of meaning; challenging tradition as a
source of meaning; taste and the crisis of
meaning; application of Cartesian categories
to address truth in the arts; move to the
imaginative rather than imitative (Classical
to Romantic); Kant, meaning and genius
Readings:
Mitrović, Philosophy for Architects, 62-71
Poe, The Philosophy of Composition (PDF)
Module 5: Meaning: Hegel and the construction of
history, national expression, ethics, and the
projection of cultural mythology; effects of
the materialist position; revivalism and
eclecticism; alienation, self-referentially and
the natural sphere; genius and
intellectualization; how to represent the
present – materialist approach & universal
style; architecture, craft, commerce and
business.
Readings:
Collins,”The Awareness of Styles” from
Changing Ideals of Modern Architecture (PDF)
Courbet, “from Realist Manifesto 1855” in
Modernism, An Anthology of Sources and
Documents, 169
Gropius, “Manifesto of the Bauhaus, April
1919” in Modernism, An Anthology of Sources
and Documents, 301
Vesely, “Modernity and the question of
representation”in TracingModernity, 81-
100
Module 6: Meaning: The effect of new understanding
of dimensionality on architecture of the
early 20th Century; plasticity as applied to
architecture and the removal of the frame;
form and meaning as interpreted through
language structure and verbal signs,
emotion and realism (Postmodernism);
myths and the communication of meaning;
phenomenology and the experience of
place; irony and wit as access to meaning in
postmodern architecture; the diagram as
access to non-historical meaning, self-
referentiality and architecture accessing
architecture
Readings:
Mitrović, Philosophy for Architects, 117-125,
128-131, 137-141, 148-166.
Leach, “Architecture of the Catwalk” in
The Anaesthetics of Architecture, 55-70
Ballantyne, Deleuze & Guattari for Architects
(excerpt – PDF)
