ID 517 - Theory, Criticism, and Methodology

(Cr: 3)

Through the careful consideration of key philosophical and theoretical texts, this course offers a forum for discussing contemporary and historical doctrine. This course is dedicated to exploring the ideas that lie behind the appearances of buildings and interior design, that is, architectural theory. In general, theory is the province of ideas that precedes action. Theory and practice are inseparable. This course aims to explain, traditional conventions, environmental concerns, experimental structural concepts, or aesthetic judgments. Likewise, theory relies ultimately on practice to test its hypotheses and assumptions. Therefore, the course will primarily focus on the development of contemporary literary examples related to design and theory, through a semester long reading intensive course of far reaching ideas, on analysis and critique of written doctrine relevant to interior design and architecture. Of interest is the articulation of philosophical and contemporary design issues, from as early as LeCorbusier’s Towards a New Architecture to the most recent literary examples of Zaha Hadid’s Randomness vs. Arbitrariness.