Architecture, Materiality and Climate

This course is the history and theory module for second year architecture students at the University of Hertfordshire. The aim of this module is to develop critical thinking and an understanding of the social, political and cultural contexts in architectural practice. Lectures focus on mass-produced building materials, steel, concrete, glass and plastic and trace relevant historical concepts, design approaches and key historical buildings from industrial revolution to present and across different geographies. They underscore the intersections of materiality with social and environmental considerations, while introducing students to key figures, buildings and historical and theoretical issues in architectural history.

Week 1: Introduction to research and writing in different styles

Week 2: Cast iron and steel

Recommended Readings

Giedion, S (1941) ‘The Schism Between Architecture and Technology’ in Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp.209-226.

Mertins, D (2005) ‘Mies’s Event Space’, Grey Room 20, pp. 60-73.

Videos

ARTE (n.d.) The Sainte Genevieve Library, Episode 34.

Week 5: Reinforced concrete

Recommended Readings

Le Corbusier (1931) Towards a New Architecture.

Celik, Z (1992) ‘Le Corbusier, Orientalism, Colonialism’, Assemblage 17, pp. 59-77.

Barber, D (2012) ‘Le Corbusier, the Brise-Soleil, and the Socio-climatic Project 1929-1963’, Thresholds, 40, pp. 21–32.

Avermaete, T et al. (2014) Casablanca Chandigarh: A Report on Modernization. Montreal: Centre canadien d’architecture.

Videos

ARTE (n.d.) The Convent of La Tourette, Episode 14.

ARTE (n.d.) Rolex Learning Centre, Episode 54.

Kahn, N (2004) My Architect.

Cazanave, J (2015) The Century of Le Corbusier.

Week 6: Reinforced concrete in Britain

Recommended Readings

Bullock, N (2002) Building the Post-War World: Modern Architecture and Reconstruction in Britain. London: Routledge.

Swenarton, M (2015) ‘High Density without High Rise: Housing Experiments of the 1950s by Patrick Hodgkinson’ in Swenarton, M., Avermeate, T. & van den Heuvel, D. (eds.) Architecture and the Welfare State. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Thoburn, N (2018) ‘Concrete and council housing’, City, 22:5-6, 612-632, DOI: 10.1080/13604813.2018.1549203

Calder, B (2022) Raw Concrete: The Beauty of Brutalism. London: Penguin.

Videos

Architecture Foundation (2017) Neave Brown in Conversation.

Week 10: Glass

Recommended Readings

Reichlin, B (1984) 'The Pros and Cons of the Horizontal Window The Perret – Le Corbusier Controversy', Daidalos 13, pp.64-78.

Friedman, A T (1998), ‘People Who Live in Glass Houses: Edith Farnsworth, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe and Philip Johnson’ in Women and the Making of the Modern House: A Social and Architectural History. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 126-59.

Murray, S (2009) Contemporary Curtain Wall Architecture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 9-63

Martin, R (2010) ‘Materiality: Mirrors’ and ‘Subjects: Mass Customization’ in Utopia’s Ghost: Architecture and Postmodernism, Again. Minneapolis MN: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 93-146.

Harwood, J (2013) ‘Corporate Abstraction’, Perspecta 46, pp. 218–247.

Week 11: The vernacular

Recommended Readings

Rudofsky, B (1964) Architecture without Architects. New York: Museum of Modern Art

Frampton, K (1983) ‘Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance’

Fathy, H (1986) Natural energy and vernacular architecture: principles and examples with reference to hot arid climates. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Passanti, F (1997) ‘The Vernacular, Modernism, and Le Corbusier’, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 56, pp. 438-451.

Pyla, P I (2007) 'Hasan Fathy Revisited: Postwar Discourses on Science, Development, and Vernacular Architecture',Journal of Architectural Education 60(3), pp. 28-39.

Week 14: Plastics

Recommended Readings

Walker, A (1994) ‘Plastics: The Building Blocks of the Twentieth Century’, Construction History 10, pp. 67–88. London: Routledge.

Colomina, B (2004) ‘Unbreathed Air 1956’, Grey Room 15, pp. 28-59.

Clarke, A J (2022) 'Plastic fantastic: Tupperware parties', Architectural Review.

Engelsmann, S et al. (2010) Plastics in Architecture and Construction, Birkhäuser.

Assignment 1: Portfolio of Writing

Students are required to choose a material they work with such as steel, concrete, wood, fabric etc. and submit a portfolio of writing that contains three short texts that examine this material from several points of view. These include:

(1) A short essay on a contemporary building that focuses on the asthetic and cultural properties of its material use. Students must visit this building and their reviews should be based on their experience of the selected material in the building.

(2) A short essay on the significance and use of this material in the history of architecture. Students should consult not only the readings assigned throughout the lectures (compulsory) but also the library and online resources.

(3) A short essay on the environmental impacts of this material focusing on its lifecycle. This includes the product, construction, use and end of life stages. Students can consult the EN 15978 and EN 15804 standards for detailed descriptions of these stages.

Students can consult the following sources for understanding the expected types of writing in (1) and (2):

Johnson-Schlee, Sam (2022) Living Rooms. London: Peninsula Press.

Calder, Barnabas (2022) Raw Concrete: The Beauty of Brutalism. London: Penguin.

Assignment 2: Essay

Students are required to submit a 2000-word research paper on one of the four following themes:

(1) Select one building (from the lectures) and write an essay focusing on its relationship to its architectural context. For example, how does this building exemplify a certain architectural style? What architectural features make us identify this building with that architectural style?

(2) Select an architect (from the lectures) and write an essay on their architectural works. For example, what makes this architect’s works significant? What are the continuities, repetitions, improvements, and changes in this person’s work?

(3) Select one building (from the lectures) and write an essay focusing on its material use. How are the materials used and why? How do they relate to the spaces they are used in and to the broader cultural and aesthetic contexts?

(4) Select an architectural element (from the lectures, e.g. curtain wall, brise-soleil) and write an essay on its use and development since the 20th century.