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History, Criticism and Theory in Architecture: Architectural Ecology: A History in Practice
Last Updated: 2026-06-05 00:08:00
Abstract
The seminar focuses on historically contextualising contemporary urgencies, discourses, and practices around ecology in architecture, with the goal of writing a environmental history of modern architecture.
Objective
Today's debates on the environmental challenges in architecture are driven on the one side by forms of technological optimism, that will allow to solve the current challenges, on the other by deep mistrust in any form of architectural intervention calling for a complete ban of any building activity. Against this background, a historical approach seems urgently needed to avoid either falling into a historical amnesia that would lead us to believe that the contemporary environmental challenges are solely products of our time, or on the contrary into the nostalgia of a ‘pre-environmental’ state that could yet be recovered—as though our understanding of the environment itself was not historical or cultural. The seminar will be divided into three phases. Firstly, a reading phase with in-class discussions of three key texts, each from a different time period. After these sessions, students choose a topic of interest related to a specific decade between 1880 and 1980. Then there are three sessions devoted to visits to libraries and/or archives, where students search for journal articles, books, drawings, brochures, and correspondence related to the topic they are working on. The third and final phase will be devoted to the development of a hypothesis, supported by material found in the archives, which will be elaborated in a visual essay.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC , MSC
- Frequency
- Semesterly recurring
Examination
- Type
- ungraded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| seminar |
History, Criticism and Theory in Architecture: Architectural Ecology: A History in Practice
No course on October 22 (seminar week) as well as in the last two weeks of the semester (final critiques).
|
No time listed | 2 h weekly |
Offered In
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Core Courses (The core courses build on the basic courses and convey basic, broad knowledge in the core areas of landscape architecture in relation to design lessons. Some of the core courses are compulsory and some are freely selectable. Further details, in particular about taking these subjects, for performance assessments and for compensating for failed subjects, are regulated in Art. 27 and Art. 31 Paragraph 4.)
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