The course aims at the application of historical methods and critical theories to the study of the history of architecture and the decorative arts in the Western World from the beginning of the Contemporary Age (mid -18th century) to the present.

Students will acquire a basic understanding of the technological, social, political, cultural and economic factors involved in the production of the built environment, and a broad grasp of some of the major structures in contemporary architectural history.

Familiarity with the historical, political and social events happened in the Western World (Europe and the United States) in the period comprised between the mid-eighteenth and the twenty-first centuries is required.

The course aims at the application of historical methods and critical theories to the study of the history of architecture and the decorative arts in the Western World since the beginning of the Contemporary Age (mid-eighteenth century) to the present.
The lectures will approach architecture and the built environment as critical features located in a broad social and cultural context, illuminating the changing meanings of architecture for the people who commission, design, build, use, preserve, and demolish buildings. Students will acquire a basic understanding of the technological, social, political, cultural and economic factors involved in the production of the built environment, and a broad grasp of some of the major structures in contemporary architectural history.

Topics of lectures
Lecture 1: Fundamentals of the classical language of architecture (4 credits); Lecture 2: The debate between Ancients and Moderns and the origins of contemporary architecture (4 credits); Lecture 3: Architecture throughout Europe, the Enlightenment (4 credits); Lecture 4: The Eighteenth century and a new architecture of expression. The Sublime and the Picturesque (4 credits); Lecture 5: A case study: the architecture of John Soane; Lecture 6: In what style should we build? The question of styles in architecture. Pluralism & Revivalism (4 credits); Lecture 7: The nineteenth century, the new building techniques of iron and plate glass and the first international World Fairs (4 credits); Lecture 8: The Arts and Crafts: the international movements for the reform of the applied and decorative arts (4 credits); Lecture 9: The American skyscraper, anatomy of an innovation (4 credits); Lecture 10: Auguste Perret, pioneer of reinforced concrete (4 credits); Lecture 10: The Modern Movement in Architecture, The Bauhaus (4 credits); Lecture 11: Protagonists of modern architecture (1): Jeanneret- Le Corbusier (4 credits); Lecture 12: Protagonists of modern architecture (2): Mies van der Rohe (4 credits); Lecture 13: Post war architecture and urbanism: Italy and the case of Turin (4 credits); Lecture 14: The crisis of modern architecture: architecture in the post-industrial world (4 credits); Lecture 15: Deconstructivism and the recent trends of contemporary architecture (4 credits).

In addition to lectures the course may include visits and short tours to architectural sites and exhibitions in Turin and its surroundings. Questions and doubts should be asked and raised in the course of the lecture, rather than after, before the beginning or in the break time. Taking written notes during the lecture is a recommended activity and will be subject to periodical scrutiny. A note book is required.

John Summerson, The Classical Language of Architecture, London – New York: Thames & Hudson, 1996
Barry Bergdoll, European Architecture 1750-1890, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000
Kenneth Frampton, Modern architecture. A critical history, London – New York: Thames & Hudson, 2007
Pdf documents with the text and images of the lectures will be uploaded on the course blog as well as on the course portal the day after each lecture.

The examination will be based on the written discussion of the subjects illustrated during the course. The written exam will take the form of a questionary and will be divided into two parts corresponding to the two main chronological sections of the course (part I: Lectures 1- 7; part II: Lectures 8-15). Each questionary will consist of 6 open questions. The questions will be based on the lectures’ contents, as well as on the materials uploaded on the portal and on the book chapters discussed. The final score will be calculated as the arithmetical average of the scores of the two examinations.