spring 2007
ARC 368R:
The Architecture of Modern Italy: 1750-present
Instructor: Timothy Parker
Prerequisites
The course is open to undergraduate students in Architecture, Art History, History, Italian Studies, and related fields. For Architecture students, completion of the architectural history survey sequence (ARC 318k, 318l, 328) is required.
Description
This course will survey the architecture of Italy from 1750 to the present. With the exception of a few important movements during the first half of the twentieth century, the periods under study are ones for which Italy is not normally a major area of focus in standard architectural history survey courses. Therefore, this course is well suited not only to bring to light heretofore relatively unknown buildings, but also to provoke critical reflection upon accepted or standard views about given phenomena, such as modernism. Accordingly, careful attention will be paid not only to the architectural history of Italy in this period, but also to the thematic issues and problems raised by this distinctive story and its buildings. Such themes may include: the duration and subtle complexity of classicism and the variety of its connotations; the emergence of modernity and the formation of modern identity; the waning authority of the Roman Catholic Church and the resulting problems of interpretation for ecclesiastical architecture; the many conceptions of modernism and their attitudes towards the past; industrialization and the perennial problem of housing.
Class Format
The class meetings will typically be part lecture and part discussion, visually supported by slides and film. The lectures will follow the chronology of the required text; discussions will focus on additional readings and major themes, as appropriate. The basic survey will occupy roughly the first two-thirds of the semester. Major thematic and synthetic lectures and discussion will follow, building upon and refining the overall picture just established. Student presentations of research papers or case study projects will conclude the semester.
Educational Objectives
This course aims to instill in students a familiarity with the basic narrative of architecture in Italy after 1750, an appreciation of what makes the Italian experience distinctive, and an awareness of how various cultural, political, and social developments can be keys to the interpretation of the buildings under study.
Evaluation
Course grades will be based upon class participation (10%), two minor exams (20% each), a final exam (20%), and a research paper / case study project (30%).
Texts
Required: Terry Kirk, The Architecture of Modern Italy, 2 vols. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005). Other readings will be made available for download as pdf files.