History of Art and Architecture VI: Experiencing Architecture

Abstract

Words, Designs, Buildings:Architectural experience became a key concept in architectural theory and design in the second half of the 18th century. The course examines this concept in texts, designs and buildings in Paris and London. We will explore the emergence of architectural experience in observations of buildings, in theories, in teachings at the academies, and in designs of buildings.

Objective

Deepen the basic knowledge

Content

Experiencing Architecture: Words, Designs, and Buildings: The notion that buildings are foremost objects to be experienced, and that the intended experience of buildings should guide their design, became a key concept in the second half of the eighteenth century. The course examines architectural experience in texts, designs and buildings in Paris and London, the main eighteenth-century centres of cultural debates that went through major urban and architectural developments. It studies the role of architectural experience in discussions about the situation, spatial composition, form and meaning of buildings. We will explore how the relationship between experience and design evolved in this period: in writings of architects on experiencing buildings, in theoretical concepts, in design theories presented in lectures at the academies of architecture, and in architectural design.

Resources