Design Theories in Architecture

***PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR EXACT SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS***Throughout our investigation of twelve contemporary buildings this lecture course will examine the development of architecture during the last forty years. During the first week we will approach the late 50s and 60s by taking a look at buildings such as Louis Kahn\’s Yale Art Gallery, a building that would mark his first appearance as an important architect, Torre Velasca, the daring solution of BBPR for the construction of a skyscraper in the city of Milan and the optimistic and challenging Sydney Opera House by Jxrn Utzon. The second week will bring us to the work of architects who dominated the architectural scene in the 60s and 70s. We will start with the Stuttgart Museum, a late career building of James Stirling that summarizes the aesthetic of post-modernism. Then we will look at the Sainsbury Wing extension of the National Gallery in London of Venturi and Scott Brown, and example of a certain, personal vision of architecture followed by one of the last works of Rossi, the Sch?tzenstrasse housing block in Berlin, where the drama of materializing his theory reaches its apogee. During the third week we will study the work of architects who dominated the 89s, Gehry, Eisenman and Siza. In the case of Eisenman, we will look at one of his largest works up until now, the Wexner Center in Ohio, his last project related to artificial excavation and we will contrast it with one of his recent works, the City of Culture in Santiago de Compostela. For Gehry we will look at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which is still in most people\’s view, his most fulfilled work. For Siza we will look at the church in the town of Marco de Canavezes where the wisdom of a mature architect reaches an admirable level of formal economy. During the fourth week, we will discuss a large and small work by Rem Koolhaas and we will study the Dominus Winery in the Nappa Valley of Herzog and de Meuron. In the last lecture, I will present the L. A. Cathedral, one of my most recent works. I hope that this presentation will allow students to better understand my views on the work of such an important group of colleagues.Please note the non-standard schedule this course follows:(*except where noted)Tuesday11:00-1:00 111 Gund HallWednesday 12:00-2:00 Piper AuditoriumThursday11:00-1:00 111 Gund HallDateSubjectJanuary 30Louis Kahn. Yale Art Museum Extension, 1951-53.January 31BBPR. Torre Velasca, Milan, 1950-57.February 1(*room 111,11:00-1:00)3Jxrn Utzon. Sidney Opera House, 1957-73.March 5James Sterling. Stuttgart Staatsgalerie, 1977-83.March 6Robert Venturi & Dennis Scott Brown. Sainsbury Wing National Gallery, London, 1986-91.March 7Aldo Rossi. Housing Sch?tzenstrasse, Berlin, 1992-97.April 2Peter Eisenman. Wexner Art Center, Columbus, Ohio, 1982-89.April 3Frank Gehry. Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, 1991-97.April 4Alvaro Siza. Church at Marco de Canavezes, 1990-96.April 30Rem Koolhaas. XL vs. Small. Lille Convention Center, 1990-94 and the Bordeaux house, 1994-99.May 1 Jacques Herzog + Pierre De Meuron. Dominus Winery, 1995-98.May 2Rafael Moneo. L.A. Cathedral, 1996-2002.*TBA FINAL EXAMDO NOT MAKE TRAVEL PLANS DURING THE WEEK OF FINAL EXAMS. This class WILL have a final exam.