History and Theory 7
2010-2011


THE AESTHETICS OF ARCHITECTURE
Introduction to the course


The Aesthetics of architecture
aims to interrogate the means of expression used by architects in their projects. Starting from the broader question of reviewing and interpreting the architecture which surrounds us in our cities and also in books and journals, we shall try to understand the way architects use various means of expression, to get on to the practices they adopt to adjust forms and materials to the compositional principles and concepts they have in mind.

We shall deal with abstractions
though we aspire to bring up for discussion the issue of poetics in architecture in a definite way, not by suggesting orders and fixed solutions, but the elements of a method for everyone to explore his/her own, individual means of expression.

In this context
we shall discuss selected theoretical issues in a sequence of lectures, saving time for a large analytical exercise which will provide the opportunity for going deeper. We shall question the meaning of ‘beauty’ in architecture. We are going to discuss scale and symmetry, balance and rhythm, regulating lines and golden sections. We shall reflect on architecture as a language and a mean of communication. We shall also explore the relation between architecture and the genius loci. We shall try to focus on the materials, to touch them and feel their smell; to investigate the crossroads of light and shadow, and the association of colors. We are going to talk on composition in terms of strategy and syntax. In fact, we shall concentrate on the wide range of options which go beyond the structural necessity and the simple functional service in order to provide architectural forms with the quality that seems to evoke an aesthetic, although inexplicable, yet deep satisfaction.

The course is organized
as an interface between teachers and students. The theoretical issues will drive us to the wider field of aesthetical understanding. They include lectures, field trips and the critical review of a textbook in the mid-term, which ends up in a short paper. The analytical-project is a complex work by groups of students which aims to interrogate the architect’s means of expression, making possible the exchange of documentation and the teamwork It includes written parts and is based on design’s analysis as well as on the creation of a conceptual model. This model is a tool for analytical interpretation; representation, including scale, materials, and rendering - will depend upon each team’s approach. This ‘conceptualization’ of the model will constitute the tool for diving into the depths of both architectural thought and practice, suggesting the creative representation of an interpretation and a new abstract expression of an already built project. The handing over will take place at the end of the courses, in an overall presentation with a critical overview. The evaluation results from this handing over as well as percentages of the mid-presentations, the written paper and the general student’s participation.



Instructors:
P. Tournikiotis (coordinator). Assistant lecturing: A.Chronaki, Phd candidate, J.Gregoriadis and K.Kalfa Postgraduate students.

Course requirements
The courses will take place every Monday 11.15-15.00 at the room T307. For documentation, information and announcements, visit the website: http://courses.arch.ntua.gr/View.aspx?i=106512