Classes

General study of modern architecture as a response to important technological, cultural, environmental, aesthetic, and theoretical challenges after the European Enlightenment. Focus on the theoretical, historiographic, and design approaches to architectural problems encountered in the age of industrial and post-industrial expansion across the globe, with specific attention to the dominance of European modernism in setting the agenda for the discourse of a global modernity at large. Explores modern architectural history through thematic exposition rather than as simple chronological succession of ideas.

EPHEMERAL HISTORIES (ARCHITECTURE & THE CONSTRUCTION SITE)

What is the history of the construction site? The paradox of the construction site lies in the fact that, although the construction site is inescapably essential to the realization of architecture, it must be ephemeral, superseded by the durable forms of the completed building. Such traces that remain, in documents, photographs, or physical marks upon the building, have been of passing interest to architectural history for the information they reveal about the realized object, but the construction site itself—as a place, as an event, as a design—has largely been ignored by an architectural history and theory not inclined toward ephemerality.

This seminar will address the construction site with rigorous historical interpretation and methodological experimentation. Readings and discussions will develop a knowledge of the construction site as a point of organization, material transformation, and intellectual and physical work. These approaches will pursue questions such as the valuation of tools and techniques, the legal armature of contracts and regulations, the social conventions of race, class, and gender, and the cultural appraisal of work and craft. The goal of the seminar will be to develop prototypical approaches to the history of the construction site that explore the possibilities of ephemeral history. Students will carry out detailed and speculative research into selected construction sites; and will use that research in digital mediums of text, sound, and image to model ephemeral histories that expand the historical accounting of a construction site to include information extending from wages to weather reports.

The class is open to doctoral and masters degree students. Enrollment will be limited to 12.

What is the history of the building site? 

The paradox of the building site lies in the fact that, although the building site is inescapably essential to the realization of architecture, it must inevitably vanish, superseded by the durable forms of the completed building. Such traces that remain, in documents, photographs, or physical marks upon the building, have been of passing interest to architectural history for the information they reveal about the realized object, but the building site itself—as a place, as an event, as a design—has largely been ignored by architectural history and theory.

This seminar will take the building site as its focus of inquiry. Readings and discussions will develop several approaches to a knowledge of the building site as a point of organization, material transformation, and intellectual and physical work. These approaches to the building site will address questions such as the valuation of tools and techniques, the legal armature of contracts and regulations, the social conventions of race, class, and gender, and the cultural appraisal of work and craft.

The goal of the seminar will be to develop prototypical approaches to the history of the building site, with a series of experimental digital histories. Students in the seminar will carry out detailed and speculative research into selected building sites, and will use that research in digital representation to create model histories that will expand the historical accounting of a building site to include information extending from wages to weather reports.

Examines the manner in which key theories of technology have influenced architectural and art production in terms of their "humanizing" claims. Students test theories of technology on the grounds of whether technology is good or bad for humans.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

Examines the manner in which key theories of technology have influenced architectural and art production in terms of their "humanizing" claims. Students test theories of technology on the grounds of whether technology is good or bad for humans.

4.647 Syllabus (MIT Certificate Protected)

4.648, 21A.507 U / 4.649, 21A.519 G

Examines the sonic phenomena and experiences that motivate scientific, humanistic, and artistic practices. Explores the aesthetic and technical aspects of how we hear; measure or describe vibrations; record, compress, and distribute resonating materials; and how we ascertain what we know about the world through sound. Although the focus is on sound as an aesthetic, social, and scientific object, the subject also investigates how resonance is used in the analysis of acoustics, architecture, and music theory. Students make a sonic artifact or research project as a final requirement.

Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

Course Syllabus (MIT Certificate required)

This class is a pre-approved HTC restricted elective for Spring 2023.

Examines historical positions in what has been known as "media theory," engaging the tensions that vex current modes of production. Explores the broad panoply of bottom-up media content generation in its confrontation with proprietary media platforms, and measures contemporary digital narrative forms against the expanded cinematic theories of the past. Discussions focus on how the rich literature of media theory might accommodate gaming, XR, interactive immersive installations, and other contemporary phantasmagoria.

4.654 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

Examines themes in the history of design, with emphasis on Euro-American theory and practice in their global contexts. Addresses the historical design of communications, objects, and environments as meaningful processes of decision-making, adaptation, and innovation. Critically assesses the dynamic interaction of design with politics, economics, technology, and culture in the past and at present. 

Examines themes in the history of design, with emphasis on Euro-American theory and practice in their global contexts. Addresses the historical design of communications, objects, and environments as meaningful processes of decision-making, adaptation, and innovation. Critically assesses the dynamic interaction of design with politics, economics, technology, and culture in the past and at present. 

4.657 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

Examines themes in the history of design, with emphasis on Euro-American theory and practice in their global contexts. Addresses the historical design of communications, objects, and environments as meaningful processes of decision-making, adaptation, and innovation. Critically assesses the dynamic interaction of design with politics, economics, technology, and culture in the past and at present.

Examines themes in the history of design, with emphasis on Euro-American theory and practice in their global contexts. Addresses the historical design of communications, objects, and environments as meaningful processes of decision-making, adaptation, and innovation. Critically assesses the dynamic interaction of design with politics, economics, technology, and culture in the past and at present. 

Studies theoretical and historiographical works pertaining to the fields of art and architectural history. Members of seminar pursue work designed to examine their own presuppositions and methods.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

Studies theoretical and historiographical works pertaining to the fields of art and architectural history. Members of seminar pursue work designed to examine their own presuppositions and methods.

4.661 Syllabus (MIT Certificate Protected)

Studies theoretical and historiographical works pertaining to the fields of art and architectural history. Members of seminar pursue work designed to examine their own presuppositions and methods.

Studies theoretical and historiographical works pertaining to the fields of art and architectural history. Members of seminar pursue work designed to examine their own presuppositions and methods.

4.661 Syllabus (MIT Certificate required)

Introduces students to the world of French photography from its invention in the 1820s to the present. Provides exposure to major photographers and images of the French tradition and encourages students to explore the social and cultural roles and meanings of photographs. Designed to help students navigate their own photo-saturated worlds; provides opportunity to gain practical experience in photography.

Taught in English.

The European Enlightenment has been described as a “revolution of the mind,” a fundamental turning point in the way Europeans imagined the world and their place in it, and a crucible of western modernity—a wellspring both of its ideals and its moral failures.

Designed in conjunction with the exhibition Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment on view at the Harvard Art Museums this fall, this hands-on seminar investigates the Enlightenment from the perspective of the visual media that were its agents and vividly exemplified its complexities and contradictions.

Through exhibition and collections visits and class discussion, we will investigate how the attempts to place knowledge on new foundations that characterized the so-called age of reason impacted art and architectural thinking and, at the same time, were mediated by them. How did new ideas about nature, human nature, and “civilization” shift thinking about the place of the arts and architecture in society, and how, conversely, did visual media, from paper architecture and imagined city plans to transparencies (early moving pictures), anatomical images, and salacious prints help to mediate such new ideas such as progress, empathy, public opinion, taste, and hygiene? And how were aesthetics and the arts shaped by, and imbricated in, scientific exploration, the expansion of trade, and their darker consequences: colonization and slavery?

Assigned readings balance recent scholarly interpretations with period texts ranging from the proto science fiction of Voltaire and Louis-Sébastien Mercier to works by Diderot, Kant, and others. Throughout, we will attend to the active role of images – whether painted, drawn, or printed – in constituting the new forms of knowledge and new practices we have come to associate with Enlightenment and whose mixed legacies we grapple with today.

Because this class includes several visits to the exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums and other local collections, class enrollment is limited to 15.

4.677 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

Required of doctoral students in HTC as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Major Exam covers a historically broad area of interest and includes components of history, historiography, and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance by the student and the examiner, and are defined by their area of teaching interest. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.

Required of doctoral students in HTC as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Major Exam covers a historically broad area of interest and includes components of history, historiography, and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance by the student and the examiner, and are defined by their area of teaching interest. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.

Required of doctoral students in HTC as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Major Exam covers a historically broad area of interest and includes components of history, historiography, and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance by the student and the examiner, and are defined by their area of teaching interest. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.

Required of doctoral students in HTC as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Major Exam covers a historically broad area of interest and includes components of history, historiography, and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance by the student and the examiner, and are defined by their area of teaching interest. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.

Required of doctoral students in HTC as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Major Exam covers a historically broad area of interest and includes components of history, historiography, and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance by the student and the examiner, and are defined by their area of teaching interest. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.

Required of doctoral students in HTC as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Major Exam covers a historically broad area of interest and includes components of history, historiography, and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance by the student and the examiner, and are defined by their area of teaching interest. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.

Required of doctoral students in HTC as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Major Exam covers a historically broad area of interest and includes components of history, historiography, and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance by the student and the examiner, and are defined by their area of teaching interest. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.