Architecture IV: Making and the Territory

Architecture IV: Making and the Territory

Architecture IV: Making and the Territory
Tom Emerson
Tuesdays 8:15am
HIL E3

The first four lectures provide the thematic introduction to the rest of the course drawing on architecture, anthropology, history and culture and serve as reflections on design, skill, craftsmanship and nature: broadly the context in which we practice architecture today.

The four lectures that follow are a case studies from the long twentieth century. They focus on particular architects and places, exploring how the territory can be described in construction, just as much as construction can be understood as a product of its wider political landscape. The final lecture is on the Picturesque and our place within nature bringing the series to a close.

It may quite simply be an essay on the anthropology of architecture. But in this case, one not written by anthropologists but by architects. It is about being modern and pre-modern. It is about being local and globalized. It is about material, culture and skill. As a whole, the series will ask you to reflect on larger issues to do with how we construct the world.

Lecture Schedule

I: Natural Design
Tuesday 23rd February

II: Craft
Tuesday 1st March

III. Bricolage
Tuesday 8th March

IV: Mies Makes
Tuesday 22nd March

V: How the Picturesque Ruined the World
Tuesday 5th April

VI: In search of a perfect life: Charles & Ray Eames
Tuesday 12th April

VII: Real Estate Opportunities: Frank Gehry & Los Angeles
Tuesday 19th April

VIII: In search of real life: Lina Bo Bardi
Tuesday 26th April

IX: Never Natural: London
Tuesday 3rd May