OVERVIEW

The course aims to provide an introduction to the most significant periods (and personalities) in the history of Western architecture from the Middle Ages to the contemporary age, in relation to the socioeconomic context and the territorial structure in its historical development at the urban and building levels, with particular attention to techniques and materials.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with knowledge of the methods and tools essential for the critical analysis and historical interpretation of architecture. Through exercises analyzing architecture, its protagonists, theories, and construction techniques, the course explores the most important stages of the debate that has accompanied the history of architecture, understood as an expression and manifestation of the complex relationships between expressive culture, production processes, and socioeconomic changes

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The module provides the fundamental concepts and laws of electromagnetism in a vacuum and studies its various applications.

PREREQUISITES

None.

TEACHING METHODS

The program includes lectures on the topics indicated and field seminars at several significant sites in the city of Genoa. Attendance is mandatory, with a minimum of 70% attendance, as required by the Scuola Politecnica's curriculum.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The lessons will focus on the evolution of Western architecture from the Middle Ages (Romanesque, Gothic) to modern and contemporary architecture (from the Renaissance to the 20th century), with in-depth studies of iron and glass architecture in France and England, the Chicago School, 20th-century masters (from Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus to Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, Louis Kahn, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, and others), architecture and industry, and architecture and engineering. The above general themes will also be explored in their specific and concrete local contexts. Some traveling lessons will be held in Genoa, analyzing portions of the city where significant evidence of the various periods can be found in terms of urban planning, construction and architecture, and construction materials and techniques, with reference to the respective cultural and socioeconomic contexts. A research activity is also planned in which students, in small groups, will write a historical-critical report on a topic in agreement with the teacher.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Recommended general reference texts include:
• D. Watkin, Storia dell’architettura occidentale, Bologna, Zanichelli, (2019 ultima ed)
• L. Benevolo, Storia dell’architettura moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, (2009 ultima ed)
• K. Frampton. Storia dell'architettura moderna, Bologna, Zanichelli, (2022 ultima ed)
• G. Montanari, E. Dellapiana, Una storia dell'architettura contemporanea, Torino, UTET Università, 2015
Further reference texts on more specific topics will be recommended during the lectures.

LESSONS

LESSONS START

https://corsi.unige.it/en/corsi/11949/studenti-orario

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of an oral test on the topics covered during the lessons and on the historical-critical report produced by the student.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam, which will focus on the topics covered during the lectures, in the itinerant lectures in the Genoese reality, and in the historical-critical essay, will assess whether the student has reached an adequate level of knowledge and has acquired a critical reading ability of the individual architectural episodes.