4.111 | Spring 2014 | Undergraduate

Introduction to Architecture & Environmental Design

Readings

Students were required to complete the readings and view the assigned reference material. Other films and links were provided as supplements.

LECTURE TOPICS READINGS AND REFERENCES
A Trans‐Scalar‐Practice: 10‐03 to 10+07 (From Objects to Earth through Time and Space)

Required Readings

Buy at MIT Press Rasmussen, S. E. “Scale and Proportion.” Chapter 5 in Experiencing Architecture. MIT Press, 1964, pp. 104–26. ISBN: 9780262680028. [Preview with Google Books]    
Buy at MIT Press ———. “Rhythm in Architecture.” Chapter 6 in Experiencing Architecture. MIT Press, 1964, pp. 127–58. ISBN: 9780262680028. [Preview with Google Books]

Take a Look At

Morrison, P. & P., C. & R. Eames. Selection from Powers of Ten: a Book about the Relative Size of Thingsin the Universe and the Effect of Adding another Zero. W. H. Freeman & Company/Scientific American Books, 1982.

Corner, J. “The Medium of Drawing: Projection, Notation and Representation.” In Theory in Landscape Architecture: A Reader. Edited by S. Swaffield. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, pp. 149–65. ISBN: 9780812218213. [Preview with Google Books]

Moneo, R. “On Typology.” (PDF 10.3MB) Oppositions 13 (1978): 22–45.

Eames, Charles, and Ray Eames. “Powers of Ten.” Eames Office, 1977.

Design Q & A. Directed by Charles, and Ray Eames. Color. 5 min. 1972. The Films of Charles and Ray Eames. Vol. 4. Chatsworth, CA: Image Entertainment, 2005. DVD.

Blow-Up. Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Color. 11 min. DVD. 1966. Warner Home Video, 2004.

10+00 the Human Scale: Bauhaus/Eames

Required Readings

Kieran, S., and J. Timberlake. “Argument.” In Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies are Poised to Transform Building Construction. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003, pp. x–xiii. ISBN: 9780071433211.

Take a Look At

Buy at MIT Press Wingler, Hans M. “Origin and History of the Bauhaus.” In The Bauhaus: Weimar, Dessau, Berlin, Chicago. MIT Press, 1978, pp. 1–11. ISBN: 9780262730471.

Buy at MIT Press Gropius, W. The New Architecture and the Bauhaus. MIT Press, 1965. ISBN: 9780262570060. [Preview with Google Books]

Neuhart, J., M. Neuhart, and R. Eames. Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames. Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn Verlag fur Architektur und technische Wissenschaften, 1989. ISBN: 9783433022962.

Bauhaus: The Face of the 20th Century. Directed by Frank Whitford. Black and White/ color, 55 min. DVD. 1994. Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2004.

The Films of Charles and Ray Eames. Directed by Charles and Ray Eames. 1972. Image Entertainment, 2005.

Eames: the Architect and the Painter. Directed by Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey. Color, 85 min, DVD. 2011. First Run Features, 2011.

Objectified. Directed by Gary Hustwit. Color, 75 min. DVD. 2009. Plexifilm, 2010.

BauhausArchiveMuseum of Design

Eames Office

10+00 the Post-Human: Fuller/Archigram/Cedric Price

Required Readings

Cook, P. “An Archigram Legacy (1986).” In Peter Cook: Six Conversations. Academy ed. St Martins Press, 1993, pp. 123–25.ISBN: 9781854901569.

Take a Look At

Foster, S. N. “Richard Buckminster Fuller.” In Buckminster Fuller. Anthology of the New Millennium. Edited by Thomas T. K. Zung. St. Martin’s Press, 2001, pp. 1–8. ISBN: 9780312266394.

Crompton, D. A. Guide to Archigram 1961-1974. Academy ed. Ernst & Sohn, 1974. ISBN: 9781854903761.

Cook, P. The City Seen as a Garden of Ideas. Monacelli Press, 2004. ISBN: 9781580931083.

Wigley, M. Constant’s New Babylon: the Hyper-Architecture of Desire. 010 Uitgeverij, 1999. ISBN: 9789064503436.

Arts at MIT. “Moving Beyond Materiality: MIT Visiting Artist Tomás Sarraceno.” November 28, 2012. YouTube.

The Archigram Archival Project

MIT Media Labs we are visiting:

10+01 the Domestic Scale: Villas

Required Readings

Le Corbusier. “Regulating Lines.” In Towards a New Architecture. Dover Publications, 1985, pp. 65–83. ISBN: 9780486250236.

———. “Mass Production Houses.” In Towards a New Architecture. Dover Publications, 1985, pp. 225–65. ISBN: 9780486250236.

Take a Look At

Gideon, S. “Le Corbusier and the Means of Architectonic Expression.” In Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition. 5th ed. Revised and enlarged. Harvard University Press, 1977, pp. 518–86. ISBN: 9780674830400. [Preview with Google Books]

Anker, P. Excerpts in From Bauhaus to Eco-House: A History of Ecological Design. Louisiana State University Press, 2010, pp. 1–35. ISBN: 9780807135518.

Buy at MIT Press Moneo, R. “Peter Eisenman.” In Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies in the Work of Eight Contemporary Architects. MIT Press, 2004, pp. 146–97. ISBN: 9780262134439.

Buy at MIT Press ———. “Rem Koolhaas.” In Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies in the Work of Eight Contemporary Architects. MIT Press, 2004, pp. 308–59. ISBN: 9780262134439.

Mathematics of Architecture: Building by Numbers. VHS. Produced by the Open University. 1996. Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1997.

Mon Oncle. Directed by Jaques Tati. Color, 117 min. DVD. 1958. The AV Channel, 2004.

KoolhaasHouselife. Directed by IlaBêka and Louise Lemoine. DVD. 2008. Bêka Films, 2008.

Foundation Le Corbusier

10+02 the Civic Scale: Bigness and Monumentality

Required Readings

Busquets, J., ed. “Synthetic Gestures: Key Buildings with Urban Synergies.” In Cities X Lines: A New Lens for the Urban Project. Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2006, pp. 19–49. ISBN: 9788884472946.

Take a Look At

Koolhaas, R. Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. The Monacelli Press, 1997. ISBN: 9781885254009. [Preview with Google Books]

Buy at MIT Press Hays, Michael. “‘Life in the Metropolis’ or ‘The Culture of Congestion.’” In Architecture Theory since 1968. MIT Press, 2000, pp. 320–30. ISBN: 9780262581882. [Preview with Google Books]

Koolhaas, R., B. Mau, and H. Werlemann. “Bignessor the Problem of Large.” In S, M, L, XL. Monacelli Press, 1998, pp. 494–516. ISBN: 9781885254863.

Buy at MIT Press Rossi, A. “Introduction” and “The Structure of Urban Artifacts.” The Architecture of the City. MIT Press, 1984, pp. 13–61. ISBN: 9780262680431.

Buy at MIT Press Rowe, C., and F. Koetter. “Collision City and the Politics of Bricolage.” In Collage City. MIT Press, 1979, pp. 86–117. ISBN: 9780262180863.

Playtime. Directed by Jacques Tati. Color, 115 min. DVD. 1967. Criterion, 2006.

Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect. Directed by Markus Heidingsfelder and Min Tesch. Color. DVD. 2008. New Video Group, 2010.

American University of Beirut. “Rem Koolhaas Lecture on OMA’s Work.” May 31, 2010. YouTube.

10+03 the Neighborhood: The Urban Project

Required Readings

Busquets, J. “Defining the Urbanistic Project: Ten Contemporary Approaches.” In Urban Design. Edited by Alex Krieger and William S. Saunders. University of Minnesota Press, 2009, pp. 131–35. ISBN: 9780816656394.

Take a Look At

Solà-Morales, M. Manuel de Solà-Morales: A Matter of Things. NAi Publishers, 2008. ISBN: 9789056625207.

Busquets, J., ed. Cities X Lines: A New Lens for the Urban Project. Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2006. ISBN: 9788884472946.

Smets, M. The Landscape of Contemporary Infrastructure. NAi Publishers, 2010. ISBN: 789056627201.

schwarzpictures.com. “DE DRAGER / A Film About Architect John Habraken.” March 9, 2013. Vimeo.

Manuel de Solá-Morales

Busquets, Joan. “Urban Projects,” BAU.

10+04 the City: The Granite Garden 

Guest Lecturer: Anne Whiston Spirn

Required Readings

Spirn, A. W. “Ecological Urbanism: A Framework for the Design of Resilient Cities” (PDF). Springer Verlag, 2013.

Take a Look At

Spirn, A. W. The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design. Basic Books, 1985. ISBN: 9780465026982.

———. The Language of Landscape. Yale University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780300077452.

———. “The Poetics of City and Nature: Toward a New Aesthetic for Urban Design.” (PDF) Landscape Journal 7, no. 2 (1988): 108–26.

———. The Eye is a Door. Wolf Tree Press, 2014.

Jacobs, J. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage Books, 1992. ISBN: 9780679741954.

Mostafavi, M., and G. Doherty. Ecological Urbanism. Lars Muller Publishers, 2010. ISBN: 9783037781890.

10+05 the Metropolis: Megalopolis

Required Readings

Brenner, N. “Rescaling the Urban Question.” In New Geographies, 0. Edited by Neyran Turan. Harvard Graduate School of Design, 2009, pp. 60–71. ISBN: 9781934510131. [Preview with Google Books]

Take a Look At

Banham, R. Megastructure: Urban Futures of the Recent Past. Thames and Hudson, 1976. ISBN: 9780064303712.

Lang, P., and W. Menking. Superstudio: Life Without Objects. Skira, 2003. ISBN: 9788884915696.

Friedman, Y. Excerpts from Yona Friedman/Pro Domo. ACTAR, 2006. ISBN: 9788496540514.

Urbanized. Directed by Gary Hustwit. Color, 85 min. DVD. 2011. Plexifilm, 2012.

Höweler + Yoon Architecture: Winners of the Audi Urban Future Award 2012

10+06 the Regional Scale: Manufactured Landscapes 

Guest Lecturer: Dan Adams

Required Readings

Berger, A. “Lecture by Alan Berger.” In Systemic Design can Change the World. Sun Architecture, 2009, pp. 11–25. ISBN: 9789085068761.

Take a Look At

Pauli, L. Manufactured Landscapes: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky. Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780300099430.

Berger, A. Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America. Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Ghosn, R., ed. New Geographies, 2: Landscapes of Energy. Harvard University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9781934510254.

Manufactured Landscapes. Directed by Jennifer Baichwal. Color, 86 min. DVD. 2007. Zeitgeist Films,2007.

Roadmap 2050

10+07 the Earth Scale: Conclusions

Required Readings

Sarkis, H. “The World According to Architecture.” In New Geographies, 4: Scales of the Earth. Edited by E. H. Jazairy. Harvard Graudate School of Design, 2011. ISBN: 9781934510278. [Preview with Google Books]

Take a Look At

Panker, P. “Buckminster Fuller as Captain of Spaceship Earth.” In Bauhaus to Eco-House: A History of Ecological Design. Louisiana State University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780807135518.

Sarkis, H. “New Geographies.” In New Geographies, 0. Edited by Neyran Turan. Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2009, pp. 98–109. 9781934510131. [Preview with Google Books]

Doxiadis, C. A. “Man’s Movement and His Settlements.” In Constantinos A. Doxiadis: Texts, Design Drawings, Settlements. Edited by Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis. Ikaros, 2006, pp. 90–141. ISBN: 9789608399365.

Whole Earth Catalogue

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