Architecture Degree Programme at “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning

The Faculty of Architecture / Architecture (English taught)
1st Year, sem 1, 2023-2024

IT-1E | Introduction to Contemporary Architecture

Compulsory Course | Hours/Week: 1C+1S | ECTS Credits: 3

ICA 2023-2024 course description and schedule.pdf

Syllabus

Department:
History & Theory of Architecture and Heritage Conservation
Course Leader:
conf.dr.arh. Radu Ponta
Teaching Staff:
asist. dr. arh. Ilinca PĂUN-CONSTANTINESCU, drd. arh. Ilinca POP, drd. arh. Ruxandra VASILE, drd. arh. Andreea CHIRCĂ
Teaching language:

English

Learning outcomes:

The course is conceived as a general introduction to the understanding of contemporary architecture. It should provide the students with a conceptual framework to be updated with other more specific information acquired throughout their academic career. It should also help students integrate more general knowledge about architecture, either disseminated through architectural magazines or acquired through their everyday spatial experience. The contemporary project is thus understood as the converging point of the different subjects introduced in the University. Another objective is to help students get familiar with architectural writing and critique, as well as with recurrent themes and arguments within actual architectural debates.

Content:

Architecture without Architects
The Architect
The Classical Tradition
The Classical Language at the scale of the City
New Needs, New Ideas, New Forms
New Beginnings: the Avangarde Movements of the 20th Century
The Modern Movement
The Functionalist City
The Rediscovery of the Traditional City
The Critique of Modernism: In Search for a New Architectural Language
Contemporary Architecture: Keys to a Labyrinth
Contemporary Architecture: Between Razing History and Reappraising the Past

Teaching Method:

lectures+seminars

Assessment:

Final examination and evaluation during seminars (see the general announcement)

Bibliography:

ZAHARIADE, A.M., BRĂTULEANU, A., Introducere în arhitectura contemporană. Note de curs

Architecture without Architects
OLIVER, Paul, Built to Meet Needs. Cultural Issues in Vernacular Architecture, Architectural Press, 2006, pp. 3-16.
MAGUIRE, Robert, "The value of tradition", în JENCKS, Charles, KROPF, Karl, Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture, Academy Editions, Wiley, London, 1997

The Classical Tradition / The Pre-Modern City
SUMMERSON, John, The Classical Language of Architecture, Thames&Hudson, Londra, [1963] 1980.
BENEVOLO, Leonardo, Orașul în istoria Europei, Ed. Polirom, București, [1993] 2003, pp. 9-156.
KOSTOF, Spiro, The City Shaped, Thames& Hudson, New York, 1991, pp. 9-41.

19th Century and Early 20th Century
BENEVOLO, Leonardo, op.cit., pp. 157-185.
SULLIVAN, Louis, "O clădire înaltă de birouri privită din punct de vedere artistic", în LASCU, Nicolae, Funcțiune și formă, Ed. Meridiane, București, 1989, pp. 76-85.
LOOS, Adolf, "Arhitectură", în LASCU, Nicolae, op.cit., pp. 106-118.
FRAMPTON, Kenneth, "Partea I: Evoluții culturale și tehnici favorizante 1750-1939", în Arhitectura modernă. O istorie critică, Editura Universitară "Ion Mincu", București, 2016.

The Modern Movement / The Functionalist City
LASCU, Nicolae, Funcțiune și formă, Ed. Meridiane, București, 1989, pp. 5-52.
LE CORBUSIER, "Spiritul nou în arhitectură", în LASCU, Nicolae, op.cit., pp. 299-308.
LE CORBUSIER, "Cele cinci puncte ale unei noi arhitecturi", în LASCU, Nicolae, op.cit., pp. 331-334.
*** "Declarația primului Congres Internațional de Arhitectură Modernă", în LASCU, Nicolae, op.cit., pp. 351-356.
BENEVOLO, Leonardo, op.cit., pp. 191-197.

The Critique of Modernism and of the Modern City
VENTURI, Robert, "Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture", în JENCKS, Charles, KROPF, Karl, op.cit.
ROSSI, Aldo, "The Architecture of the City", în JENCKS, Charles, KROPF, Karl, op.cit.
JACOBS, Jane, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities", în JENCKS, Charles, KROPF, Karl, op.cit.
* "The Brussels Declaration – Reconstruction of the European City", în JENCKS, Charles, KROPF, Karl, op.cit.
STEINER, Dietmar, "Of Whores and Saints. Theses on the Practice of Future Architecture" în Steiner’s Diary. About Architecture since 1959, Park Books, 2016.
COHEN, Jean-Louis, "Vanishing points" în The Future of Architecture. Since 1889. A Woldwide History, 2011.
IBELINGS, Hans, Supermodernism: Architecture in the Age of Globalization, 1998/2003.

Supplementary reading suggestions will/may be provided during the lectures