Course Description
The course of ‘Theory of Design’ focuses on the philosophical and theoretical premises of movements of architecture, not as a style, since the 19th century through the present day. The structure of the course is thematic. It explores the major directions of architecture, as a cultural activity, that has taken place since the 19th century. In so doing the course hopes to allow students to link critically their understanding of artifacts to larger cultural developments of the present day. A synoptic review of western architectural history is used as a springboard for discussions on the nature of historicism, idealism, rationalism, perception, and the logic and modes of built environment production. Focusing on key figures, movements, and texts, this course provides an overview of the principal theories that have informed, animated, or destabilized recent architectural and interior design discourse. It aims to furnish students with a set of questions and tools for architectural criticism and self-critique. The course will be conducted through a serious of interactive lectures, class discussions and debates, and research assignments which demand increasing sophistication and incorporation of the issues developed in the readings, lecture, and class discussions. Students are encouraged to be critical and to look for alternate descriptions and explanations of architecture. In class, they critically evaluate a variety of historically significant architectural theories and develop their own positions.
Course ID: INDSG 408
| Credit hours | Theory | Practical | Laboratory | Lecture | Studio | Contact hours | Pre-requisite | 3 | 3 | 3 | INDSG 403 |
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