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063-0313-08L 1 Credits MSC D-ARCH

History of Art and Architecture III: Stories about Architecture

Kunst- und Architekturgeschichte III: Geschichten zur Architektur

Lecturers & Examiners: Prof. Dr. Andreas Tönnesmann, PD Dr. Michael Gnehm
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:24:53

Abstract

Stories about Architecture

Objective

Deepen the basic knowledge

Content

"To really appreciate architecture, you may even need to commit a murder", Bernard Tschumi writes in 1978 in one of his "Advertisements for Architecture". He wants to fuel paper space with something that "really" matters in architecture: with human encounters producing stories in and around architecture. The lecture pursues such stories as a way of understanding architecture as a setting for human activities. The scope of these stories encompasses conflicts between persons and gender, nations and societies, which perform architecture as a political and ideological space, such as in crime fiction (Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler), in stories about clashes between Europe and America (Franz Kafka, Max Frisch), between country and city (Germany, London, Paris), in stories about the Swiss scene as a motif (Hermann Burger) or in Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves as one of the most recent expansions of the "space of consciousness".

General Information

Language
German
Levels
MSC
Frequency
Semesterly recurring

Examination

Type
graded semester performance
Die Vorlesung wird in der letzten Semesterstunde schriftlich geprüft. Aus drei Themen des Vorlesungsstoffes kann eines gewählt und in der Form eines Essays beantwortet werden.

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture Kunst- und Architekturgeschichte III: Geschichten zur Architektur
  • Thu 09:45-10:30 (HIL E 7)
1 h weekly

Offered In