The aim of this subject is to present and understand the intellectual and artistic environments that have generated the different architectural trends throughout the 20th century.
According to Walter Benjamin's proposal On the concept of history (1940), this subject proposes a reading of the past through ?historical materialism? and therefore, placing emphasis on understanding the economic, social and political context that builds the work and the last architectural thought. In this sense, the material condition of architecture will be highlighted through the documents of production, representation and dissemination, as well as a re-reading and critique of modern architecture as a collective professional practice of couples, teams and collaborators. The content will be divided into chapters on themes rather than on a single specific author, thus providing a chronological and genealogical view of architecture within a broader historical environment at both the disciplinary and geographical level.
Individual reading of texts (always providing the original edition) will allow students to understand the ideological value of architecture as a communication tool. Likewise, the visits and practicals will allow students to actively implement the knowledge provided in the theoretical classes through group research. The subject as a whole is therefore understood as a pedagogical unit that should serve as a conclusion to the history courses but also as a starting point for obtaining and developing a critical view of history, architecture and contemporary reality.
Titular Professors
The main objectives of this course focus on providing students with a critical and contextual understanding of 20th-century architecture, highlighting the cultural, technical, and scientific transformations that have shaped its evolution. Through the analysis of key movements, works, authors, and historical events, students are expected to recognize the major narratives and shifts in contemporary architectural thought.
The course also encourages the development of a personal library of references through the identification of significant texts, buildings, contexts, and figures. Students will be trained to relate architects' works within a broader historical framework, establishing connections and influences across projects and periods, while emphasizing how major social, political, or cultural events have shaped professional and intellectual trajectories. Ultimately, students are expected to develop a critical perspective capable of synthesizing knowledge and articulating original reflections on contemporary architecture, actively contributing to the construction of a genealogy of current practices.
Ultimately, this course aims to expand students? architectural culture, offering them a solid historical foundation to critically engage with the contemporary challenges of the discipline.
The content will be divided into chapters which will discuss themes rather than a single specific author, thus providing a chronological and genealogical view of architecture within a broader historical environment at both the disciplinary and geographical level.
The works of the following authors are presented. The selection is made based on their representativeness and a basic knowledge of the major works of modern architecture. The classification is done differently in each chapter and following different categories: authors, typologies, geographies, etc. Connections with local works and contemporary themes.
1. On the concept of history
Introduction and explanation of the course's organisation: theory classes, practical classes, and outings around Barcelona. Presentation of the concept of ?historical materiality? as a pedagogical method.
Text: 1940. Walter Benjamin, Über den Begriff der Geschichte (On the Concept of History).
2. The industrialization of society
Modernity through industrialization with iron, glass and photography.
Introduction to the change from the 19th to the 20th century and the modernist movements throughout Europe.
Text: 1964.Ronald Barthes, La Tour Eiffel (The Eiffel Tower)
3. The dialectics of the avant-garde
Artistic movements faced with the transformation of the metropolis.
Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, Expressionism and Russian Constructivism.
Text: 1973. Manfredo Tafuri, Progetto e utopia: architettura e sviluppo capitalistico (Project and Utopia: Architecture and Capitalist Development).
4. The New World
The foundation of a school between wars. New pedagogical approaches of the Bauhaus.
Founding manifesto of Walter Gropius to Weimar, the school's design in Dessau and Berlin.
Text: 1965. Johannes Itten, The Foundation Course at the Bauhaus (1919)
5. Communicating Architecture
Photography as a tool for communicating architecture from the interiors of Adolf Loos to new tools of representation by Mies van der Rohe in 20 in collaboration with Lilly Reich.
Text: 1927. Mies van der Rohe, Über die Form in der Architektur (About form in architecture)
6. The City of Tomorrow
L'Esperit Noveau, the machines of habitation and Le Corbusier's urban project.
Review of the great urban projects and multi-family dwellings as a transformation of society.
Text: 1924. Le Corbusier, Urbanisme (The City of Tomorrow)
7. Mediterranean Correspondences
From the foundation of the CIAM and the expansion of the modern movement. Architectural practices and correspondences between the north and south of the Mediterranean. Ibizan architecture and Hassan Fathy.
Text: 1935. Josep Lluís Sert, Arquitectura sense ?estil? I sense ?arquitecte? (Architecture without ?style? and without ?architect?)
8. The mechanisation of craftsmanship
Architectural practices far removed from the International style in America with Frank Lloyd Wright and in Northern Europe with the Nordic masters: Alvar Aalto, Arno Jacobsen and Jorn Utzon.
Text: 1949. Bruno Zevi, Towards an Organic Architecture.
9. America: there and back
The expansion of the city, concrete and nature. Architects exiled by the war in America: Lina bo Bardi in Brazil, Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe in the United States. New American figures: Philip Johnson and Louis Kahn.
Text: 1967. Lina bo Bardi, O novo Trianion (The New Trianion)
10. The architecture of the city
Post-war architecture in Europe and new post-modern thought through the work of Aldo Rossi. The analogous city, typologies and new understanding of history as a project tool.
Text: 1966. Aldo Rossi, L'architettura della città (The Architecture of the City)
11. Learning from Pop
Academic project by Robert Venturi and Denis Scott Brown as an apprenticeship in the city of Las Vegas and subsequent reflections and works. New tools of expression, analysis and representation of architecture.
Text: 1971. Denis Scott Brown, Learning from Pop.
12. Urban transformation of Barcelona
Review of the transformation of Barcelona during the 1990s, Olympic Games and opening up to the world through concrete projects and urban developments. Consequences on the city today.
Text: 1985. Oriol Bohigas, Reconstrucció de Barcelona (Barcelona Reconstruction)
13. Towards a Global Modernity
Presentation of the different architectural practices that have emerged in Asia, Australia and Africa outside the frameworks of the West. A new paradigm of architecture with globalization and the proliferation of the Pritzker Prizes.
Text:1983. Kenneth Frampton, Towards a Critical Regionalism.
14. Contemporary Practices
Reflection on the current condition of architecture in the digital age, economic instability and the neoliberal market. Young architectural practices operate at the margins of the economic standardization of architecture.
Text: 2002. Sylvia Lavin, The Temporary Contemporary
The main objective of this subject is to provide the knowledge and resources necessary for students to understand the evolution of architecture throughout the 20th century. In this sense, the aim is for the student to be able to understand history as a genealogy in which architects, artists and authors construct the story of modernity. The contribution of many references, documents and original texts will help to provide a closer view of the historical account of each period. The course aims for the student to understand the value of history beyond the classroom content as a tool for analyzing and reflecting on the current condition of architecture and urban planning. To understand works of architecture not only as isolated constructions but as artefacts of economic, political and ideological expression.
The classes will be understood as thematic chapters encompassing the most important architects, artists and intellectuals of each period, as well as the most relevant territories and spheres of society for each period:
1. On the concept of history
2. The industrialization of society
3. The Dialectics of the Avant-Garde
4. The New World
5. Communicating Architecture
6. The city of the future
7. Mediterranean Correspondences
8. The mechanization of craftsmanship
9. America: there and back
10. The architecture of the city
11. Learning from Pop
12. Urban transformation of Barcelona
13. Towards a global modernity
14. Contemporary Practices
Architecture will be dealt with at a higher level of complexity than in previous courses, encouraging students to position themselves in relation to the current moment, in order to awaken their critical sense and their vocation of service as future architects. In parallel, the study of works of art will be encouraged, in the different formats that surround the discipline of the architectural project: painting, sculpture, photography, cinema, etc, as well as the reading of critical, contemporary and historical texts.Lectures are given for each of the thematic blocks, on which daily texts will be read, always linked to the content given in class. In addition to continuous assessment, individual practice is carried out with a text commentary and in groups throughout the course, focusing on the analysis and interpretation of a specific work of architecture within its context and chronology.
According to the hours allocated during the week, this subject is organised with theory classes on Tuesdays/Wednesdays and practical classes on Thursdays. This division allows us to provide the theoretical content at the beginning of the week and to present the activity on Thursday, which will be a visit/route around the city of Barcelona or a practical class.
Theoretical Class
The classes will consist of 1.5 hours of theoretical content and the reading of a previously selected text. These texts will always be presented with the original edition so that the student understands the value of the media as a tool for the expression of architecture.
Practical Class
Practical classes will alternate between outings and practicals. The outings will consist of routes and visits to places in the city where some of the projects and buildings discussed in the theory classes can be visited. On the other hand, the practicals (class work) will also maintain a relationship with the theoretical content and will provide tools of expression, analysis and representation, as well as a unitary vision of the course with a chronology and a work on an architectural project chosen in class that will have to be presented at the end of the course
EVALUATION:
The evaluation of the student's work is carried out at two levels: individual and group. At the individual level, the student will have to hand in a weekly text commentary to be presented at the end of the theory class. At the beginning of the course, students will be provided with a selection of texts so that they can always have access to them.
In groups of 3 students, they will have to work on a specific work by situating it within a chronology of the 20th century in order to understand how the major historical, political and economic events have affected the development of the professional practice of the selected architect. In the same way, the different tools explained in class, both in terms of expression, analysis and representation, will be used to be able to interpret the specific work. At the end of the course, the different groups will have to present their work in class and hand in an article with images and text.
Class attendance is essential for the correct follow up of the course. It will be necessary to pass both parts (group and individual) to pass the course.
The student will be evaluated according to the criteria described above:
Highly significant evaluation activity
? Examination
? Chronology + Analysis of the selected project
? Text comments
? Cross-curricular activity
The teachers will take into account the student's ability to respond to solutions to the given problems, the ability to reflect on the starting data and the skills of organisation, conduction and development of the work, as well as its presentation. Class attendance is essential for the correct follow up of the course. An 80% of attendance is considered to have access to continuous assessment (non-attendance must be duly justified).
There is a recovery exam for students who have not passed the subject during the course. Each evaluation activity has a different assessment throughout the course, taking into account its degree of complexity and the knowledge students are expected to have acquired. The distribution of the grade of the exercises in the final assessment of the course is as follows:
Exam (30%)
Practical exercises (chronology, project, workshop) (30%)
Attendance (coming to class, text comments) (30%)
Transversal Activity (10%)
Grading:
MH ? Honors / 10-9 Excellent / 8-7 Notable / 6-5 Passed / 4-0 Failed
Special Qualifications:
? (0.0): This qualification is reserved for cases derived from the application of disciplinary sanctions.
? Not Present (NP): This is the qualification that will be assigned when a student has not participated in a sufficient number of evaluation activities. As a general criterion, it will be considered that the number of highly significant evaluation activities in which a student has participated represents an aggregate weight equal to or greater than 50% of the total weight of highly significant evaluation activities.
? Honors (MH): This qualification can be awarded to students who have obtained a qualification equal to or higher than 9.0, according to the criteria of the responsible teaching staff of the subject or the Evaluation Board.
The evaluation of the student's work is carried out at two levels: individual and group. At the individual level, the student will have to hand in a weekly text commentary to be presented at the end of the theory class. At the beginning of the course, students will be provided with a selection of texts so that they can always have access to them.
In groups of 3 students, they will have to work on a specific work by situating it within a chronology of the 20th century in order to understand how the major historical, political and economic events have affected the development of the professional practice of the selected architect. In the same way, the different tools explained in class, both in terms of expression, analysis and representation, will be used to be able to interpret the specific work. At the end of the course, the different groups will have to present their work in class and hand in an article with images and text.
Class attendance is essential for the correct follow up of the course. It will be necessary to pass both parts (group and individual) to pass the course.
The student will be evaluated according to the criteria described above:
Highly significant evaluation activity
? Examination
? Chronology + Analysis of the selected project
? Text comments
? Cross-curricular activity
The teachers will take into account the student's ability to respond to solutions to the given problems, the ability to reflect on the starting data and the skills of organisation, conduction and development of the work, as well as its presentation. Class attendance is essential for the correct follow up of the course. An 80% of attendance is considered to have access to continuous assessment (non-attendance must be duly justified).
There is a recovery exam for students who have not passed the subject during the course. Each evaluation activity has a different assessment throughout the course, taking into account its degree of complexity and the knowledge students are expected to have acquired. The distribution of the grade of the exercises in the final assessment of the course is as follows:
Exam (30%)
Practical exercises (chronology, project, workshop) (30%)
Attendance (coming to class, text comments) (30%)
Transversal Activity (10%)
Grading:
MH ? Honors / 10-9 Excellent / 8-7 Notable / 6-5 Passed / 4-0 Failed
Special Qualifications:
? (0.0): This qualification is reserved for cases derived from the application of disciplinary sanctions.
? Not Present (NP): This is the qualification that will be assigned when a student has not participated in a sufficient number of evaluation activities. As a general criterion, it will be considered that the number of highly significant evaluation activities in which a student has participated represents an aggregate weight equal to or greater than 50% of the total weight of highly significant evaluation activities.
? Honors (MH): This qualification can be awarded to students who have obtained a qualification equal to or higher than 9.0, according to the criteria of the responsible teaching staff of the subject or the Evaluation Board.
Capacity for Critical Analysis
? Students must demonstrate a deep and well-argued understanding of the concepts, theories, and historical contexts presented in the course.
? Particular emphasis will be placed on the ability to connect readings and debates with practical content and the contemporary context.
Active Participation and Quality in Debates
? Regular, thoughtful, and well-founded participation in reading and debate sessions.
? Clarity in oral presentations and the ability to formulate critical questions and responses.
Quality of Practical Work
? Conceptual clarity and structural coherence of the practical exercise developed throughout the course.
? Ability to integrate readings, visual references, and personal positions into the constructed discourse.
? Argumentative rigor, creativity, and critical depth.
Written Communication Skills
? Clarity and precision in the writing of submitted texts.
? Proper use of academic language and correct use of citations and bibliographic references.
Commitment to the Learning Process
? Regular attendance, meeting deadlines, proactive attitude, and progression throughout the course.
? Lack of involvement or absence of progress in results will be penalized.
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LE CORBUSIER. Cap a una arquitectura. Mediterrània, 2009 (spanish & english edition).
LE CORBUSIER. Urbanisme. Paris, 1925.
PEREIRA, José Alonso. Introducción a la historia de la arquitectura. Reverté, Barcelona, 2009.
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MANFREDO TAFURI. Progetto e utopia: architettura e sviluppo capitalistico (Proyecto y utopía), 1973.
JOHANNES ITTEN. The Foundation Course at the Bauhaus (1919), 1965.
BRUNO ZEVI. Towards an Organic Architecture (Hacia una arquitectura orgánica), 1949.
LINA BO BARDI. O novo Trianon, 1967.
ALDO ROSSI. L?architettura della città, 1966.
DENISE SCOTT BROWN. Learning from Pop, 1971.
ORIOL BOHIGAS. Reconstrucció de Barcelona, 1985.
KENNETH FRAMPTON. Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance, 1983.
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ROLAND BARTHES. La Tour Eiffel, 1964.
JOSEP LLUÍS SERT. Arquitectura sense ?estil? i sense ?arquitecte?, 1935.
LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE. Über die Form in der Architektur (Sobre la forma en arquitectura), 1927.
GORDON CULLEN. El paisaje urbano: tratado de estética urbanística. Blume, Barcelona, 1974 (english edition).
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COLIN ROWE; FRED KOETTER. Ciudad-collage. Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 1981 (english edition).
ALLAN B. JACOBS. Grandes Calles. Universidad de Cantabria. Analectas, 1996 (english edition).