History, Criticism and Theory of Architecture: Things of the Modern

Abstract

This seminar begins with the question: what new ideas emerge when the objects of study are not the heroes and pioneers of modern architecture, nor the canonical buildings, but the various network of expertise, systems, and objects that make up modern life?

Objective

The general aim of the course is to propose a new reading of modern architecture. In particular its objective is to impart historical and theoretical instruments for dealing with the conditions which made modern architecture possible by analysing in an exemplary way various machines, spaces, structures, materials and elements. Organised in collaboration with the Chair of History of Prof. M. Dommann (UZH), the seminar aims to challenge both the disciplines of history and history of architecture in their approach to material artefacts.

Content

We live our lives surrounded by a complex entanglement of “Things”. These “Things” have a fundamental role to play in the construction of modern life through their ability to connect and communicate, structure and organise the various activities of human existence from the city to the interiors of our apartments. Evidence of these “Things” can be found today in central Zurich: clocks and timetables that synchronise activities as diverse as education, public travel, and social interaction (the lunch hour, Zvieri); mechanised transportation devices such as elevators, the Polybahn, and the ETH Link that negate the physical distance between seemingly independent places; systems and objects such as Eduroam, internal post, and NEBIS which allow for the medial networking of individuals, groups, and institutions. Yet, to analyse these objects only from a technical perspective or see them simply as representations (of taste, desire, progress), does not allow for satisfactory analysis into the complex networks of actors involved in their development, design, or regulation. Instead, the seminar uses architectural, social, media and cultural-historical perspectives to raise new research questions about the inherited built environment of modernity. Using the social, material and spatial environments of the three university quarters in Zurich (Hönggerberg, Irchel and Zentrum) as other key examples, the seminar will focus on the overlooked "anonymous" objects of history (Sigfried Giedion) in the immediate our vicinity.

Resources