Bramante is better than Alberti . . .

A seminar, in the manner of a forum, devoted to the practice of architectural critique and evaluation.

Ten significant and comparable pairs of architectural works (individual’s full oeuvres, singular buildings, experimental projects), selected from different periods in the history of Western Architecture will be analyzed, discussed and evaluated in class (i.e. Alberti/Bramante; Rossi/Venturi; Koolhaas/Herzog & de Meuron; etc). There will be required selected readings for the in-depth preparation of each class discussion which will be structured in two parts: a one hour and half presentation by the instructor followed by an open discussion led by a pre-selected team of students in the class. Invited guests will visit specific seminars to amplify on the readings and the instructor’s presentations, and to participate in the discussions. A mid-term short paper and a final paper will be required.  Students enrolled in this seminar will be expected to have already acquired a broad and solid knowledge of the overall arch of Western Architecture history, from Classical Antiquity to the Present.

Prerequisites:Students must have had prior study of Renaissance and Western modern architecture as demonstrated by a copy of transcript or course syllabus.