VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.
Theory of Architecture II
Architekturtheorie II
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:55:17
Abstract
The lecture course offers an introduction to key themes and questions of modern architectural theory over two semesters. Part one addresses formative "figures of thought" and their materialization in built and spatial structures. Part two critically examines different forms of architectural practice through the work of exemplary protagonists.
Objective
Understanding of the historic development of architectural theory during modernity and critical discussion of its key terms and concepts from a transdisciplinary perspective.
Content
In the second part of the lecture course our focus will be on factors of production in architecture as well as various approaches and forms of architectural practice from the twentieth century to the present. Different "work models" will be introduced and critically discussed through a series of exemplary case studies with a focus on actors and their agency. By doing so, we seek to highlight architects' varying fields of activity within their specific local and changing historical contexts. We encounter architects, who not only shaped environments that were increasingly characterized by an abundance of new industrially manufactured materials and products, but who also organized labour and production processes. In addition to that, we will study attempts to restructure the capitalist building sector through cooperation, and we will look at the work of salaried architects in municipal and state planning offices. Finally, we will turn to such strategies as field work, analysis of the everyday, and activism.
Resources
Lecture Notes
Handouts summarizing the content of weekly lectures will be available for download from the website of the Visiting Lectureship for the Theory of Architecture.
Literature
All required readings for the lectures will be available for download from the website of the Visiting Lectureship for the Theory of Architecture. In addition to those key readings, the following monographs and anthologies are useful complementary sources for the lecture course: - Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A Vocabulary of Modern Architecture, London: Thames & Hudson, 2000. - Susanne Hauser, Christa Kamleithner, Roland Meyer, eds., Architekturwissen. Grundlagentexte aus den Kulturwissenschaften, Bielefeld: Transcript, 2013, 2 Vols. - K. Michael Hays, ed., Architecture Theory since 1968, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1998. - Harry Francis Mallgrave, ed., Architectural Theory, Oxford: Blackwell, 2006–2008, 2 Vols. - Ákos Moravánszky, ed., Architekturtheorie im 20. Jahrhundert. Eine kritische Anthologie, Wien, New York: Springer, 2003. - Joan Ockman, Architecture Culture, 1943–1968: A Documentary Anthology, New York: Rizzoli, 1993.
Learning Materials (Links)
- Recording
- Architekturtheorie II
- Learning environment
- Architekturtheorie II
General Information
- Language
- German
- Levels
- BSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- session examination
- Mode
- written 90 minutes
- Aids
- Wörterbuch
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture |
Architekturtheorie II
Keine Lehrveranstaltung am 26.3. (Seminarwoche), am 9.4. (Osterferien) sowie an Feiertagen und in den letzten 2 Wochen des Semesters (s. Raumbelegungen).
|
|
2 h weekly |