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History of Art and Architecture: The Barbarians
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:23:19
Abstract
How is knowledge constituted in the contemporary university? Barbarians at the gates, but with notebooks in hand, we will pay attention to the role of metaphor, of image, and of procedure in each context. In the accompanying seminars, we will ask ourselves, what can beginning from position zero teach us about architecture, about architecture education, and about knowledge in general?
Objective
This class does not promise practical skills. The goal of this class is two-fold: on the one hand, to reposition architectural education in the context of other fields of specialist tertiary training, and on the other, to develop a clear position on the aspirations and contemporary function of "the University" as both an ideal and a real institution.
Content
In this open-ended but demanding seminar, we will visit a dozen different lectures across (close to) a dozen different departments at the ETH and the UZH. From monetary economics to maritime history, from embryology to sculpture, we will attend lectures in fields in which we do not have the prerequisites, to struggle to understand what counts as knowledge, how it is transmitted, and how relevance is established.
Resources
Lecture Notes
Die Pflichtlektüre wird für angemeldete TeilnehmerInnen als download zur Verfügung gestellt.
Literature
Required reading will be available as a download for registered participants.
Learning Materials (Links)
- Main link
- Information
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC
- Frequency
- Semesterly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture with exercise |
History of Art and Architecture: The Barbarians
Teaching language: English and German.
No course on 21.3. (seminar week) and in the last two weeks of the semester (final critiques).
|
|
2 h weekly |