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This module will give you an understanding of key moments in the history and theory of architecture while also putting a distinct focus on architectural representations: on texts, drawings, and photographs as well as on activism and diversity of bodies, approaches, and evidence. The course consists of three main elements:

• a lecture series considering the shifting understandings of these various media over the past decades, pondering how they have been adopted in different geographical locations, periods of time, and socio-political contexts
• a seminar series which investigates how different forms of representation shape debates and ideas around architecture
• one essay submission examining a particular form of architectural representation

On successful completion of the module, you will have achieved the following learning outcomes, consisting of the comprehension of:

• certain key moments in the architectural history and theory of the 20th century
• the production, use, experience and impact of contemporary architecture
• a range of key buildings in terms of their spatial format, as well as their urban, social, environmental and technological contexts, including references to relevant urban design and planning concepts situated within a historical frame
• a range of key architects’ as well as artists’, writers’ and other practitioners’ approaches to architecture and the built environment
• the relativity of any one single architectural canon since they shift subjectively with changing social, political and philosophical agendas (the idea is to gain insight into how the history and theory of architecture is itself in continuous evolution, questioning accepted assumptions and boundaries, increasing understanding of our own situation, and opening new possibilities for practice)
• the relationship between architecture and the arts, between architectural history & theory and design as well as between architecture and other fields
• texts, images, architectural drawings and models, oral histories and activism as forms of architectural knowledge and the role of these representations in the world of architecture as a subject of architectural enquiry in itself
• the specific attributes of a range of architectural representations, a reflective approach towards them and the ability to assess their potential in the context of architectural production