Seminar in a selected topic in the history of art, with a particular emphasis on artistic production from the 17th century to the present. The class includes visits to area art museums and collections, and requires original research and presentation of oral and written reports, varying at the discretion of the instructor. Offered for 9 or 12 units. 

Enrollment limited.

UG: 4.378 | G: 4.379

Probes the ethics and aesthetics of historic preservation through an artistic lens. Introduces a range of themes related to politics of heritage, memory and commemoration, trauma, iconoclasm, and more. Explores the agency of monuments in relation to colonialism, nationalism, social justice, and democracy. Research is conducted in groups, through which students analyze contested heritage sites through critical artistic and spatial practices addressing traumatic, troubling, or toxic memory. Lectures, screenings, readings, and discussions inform the development of individual projects. At the end of the semester, students create projects that may involve artistic tools, collective learning experiences, creative processes, and transdisciplinary knowledge exchanges that demonstrate a new way of capturing, sustaining, and developing future heritage.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

Seminar connecting the arts and sciences by exploring methodological similarities and differences across the arts, architecture, engineering, and social sciences. Through targeted reading and exercises, each student develops a collaborative project that engages directly with another discipline. Projects are iterated over the course of the term. Readings, visitors, and lectures expose students to a wide range of practitioners across different fields. Students interrogate the underlying methodologies that unite and separate their disciplines. Presents best-practice models for cultivating collaboration through the use of case studies.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

UG: 4.354; G: 4.355

Examines the technical and conceptual variables and strategies inherent in contemporary video art practice. Analyzes structural concepts of time, space, perspective, and sound within the art form. Building upon the historical legacy of the moving the image, students render self-exploration, performance, social critique, and manipulation of raw experience into an aesthetic form. Emphasizes practical knowledge of lighting, video capturing and editing, and montage. Presentation and critique of student work, technical workshops, screenings, and reading discussions assist students with final project.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

This course examines the contemporary challenges and history of city planning on three continents - Africa, Asia, and South America. Students study a number of city plans, from the ‘informal’ settlements of Delhi and Nairobi, the modernist master plans of Brasilia and Baghdad, to climate action plans in various cities. The objective of the course is to understand the relationship between dwelling and building in the design of cities, in conjunction with the environmental, social, political, and intellectual environments at the time of their planning. Open to both undergraduate and graduate students. MArch students can register for 9 credits.

4.581 Proseminar in Computation (G) / 4.582 Research Seminar in Computation (G)

Introduction to traditions of research in design and computation scholarship.

4.582 Research Seminar in Computation

In-depth presentations of current research in design and computation.

An in-depth introduction to shape grammars and their applications in architecture and related areas of design. Shapes in the algebras Ui j, in the algebras Vi j and Wi j incorporating labels and weights, and in algebras formed as composites of these. Rules and computations, shape and structure, designs.

H1 Half Term subject

How can you build a creative practice that is adaptive, impactful, and future-ready?

This lecture-and-lab course equips students in design, arts, and cultural fields with tools and strategies for viable professional practice. You will engage with cultural economics and management, international frameworks, and practical tools such as business models, market positioning, branding, and intellectual property protection, applying them to your own work through structured exercises. Labs explore crossovers—ways creative practice can generate value and drive innovation in society and industry—developing experimental propositions for real-world applications.

You may enter with a professional direction in mind, although it is not required. The labs are designed to allow new directions and value propositions to emerge. The course fosters reflection and equips students to create professional offerings through a value-based understanding of cultural and creative production while identifying market opportunities with positive human impact. Final presentations consolidate learning into professional outputs with potential for incubation.

How do you go from a moment of obligation to starting or accelerating a movement?

This course explores the difference between innovation, social innovation, and systems change for social impact. Students interested in navigating complex environmental and social problems will explore frameworks and case studies from real systems change innovators to develop a more comprehensive view of complex problems and the systems they are part of —systems that often keep those problems in place.

In the course, you will apply experiential tools and methods to interrogate your own call to action, strengths, and gaps to address complex problems or needs. You will gain an understanding of the importance of understanding problems from the impact target’s perspective and explore innovative ways to create a scalable movement that ultimately can change a system. The final deliverable from the course is writing a case study on system change based on detailed actor mapping and interviews where you share your deeper understanding of a system you care about.

4.451 U / 4.450, 1.575 G

Research seminar focusing on emerging applications of computation for creative, early-stage structural design and optimization for architecture. Incorporates computational design fundamentals, including problem parameterization and formulation; design space exploration strategies, including interactive, heuristic, and gradient-based optimization; and computational structural analysis methods, including the finite element method, graphic statics, and approximation techniques. Programing experience and familiarity with structural mechanics necessary.

Additional work required of students taking graduate version.