Starting from the proposed theme, the various forms assumed by the relationship between architecture, the public sphere and public opinion, the course intends to illuminate historiographical and methological research approaches in architectural history, with particular attention to its sources and documents.

none

Since the beginning of the contemporary age the rise a of a mass public and a reconfigured public sphere along with the diffusion of the press have brought a significant shift in the way the city and its architecture are approached, interpreted and judged (R. Wittman, Architecture, Print Culture and the Public sphere in Eighteenth century France, London – New York 2007). Through the analyses of a number of exemplary case-studies chosen between Europe and the USA and from 1750 to the present, this course seeks to address the following questions: what has been the space for the emergence of a public opinion regarding architecture, the city and their main actors (architects, designers, decision makers)? What role was played in this respect by architectural journalism, the illustrated journals and magazines and other genres of popular publications? Which languages, both verbal and visual, were used to convey the architectural knowledge to a new and growing audience of readers? What kind of interaction, other than the uncritical praise, has there been between the architectural knowledge and the general public of the non-experts? In which ways and through which languages were/are specific aspects of the buildings and/or the architectural profession addressed and criticized? What were/are the recurring targets of architectural criticism? What were/are its audiences?

Mixed mode

Oral presentation - Written report presentation

P.D.1-2 - March