4.341 U / 4.342 G

1/24/23: Note schedule change from MW 9:30-12:30 to MW 2-5.

Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version. 

4.341/4.242 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

2/8/23 note: room changed to E15-207

Incommensurability is defined as the inability to express or comprehend one conceptual scheme in terms of another. That is, in other words, a lack of a common measure between models of observations, value systems, or ideologies. Environmental observational methods present incommensurability when scale becomes a variable. This lack of a common measure presents itself as well in the general inability to comprehend magnitudes of planetary phenomena related to climate change and the effects it has on humans and more than humans. The answer, as Thomas Kuhn or Paul Feyerabend would state, is not to push for a common, universalized system of measure, but to exist and experiment on incommensurable alternatives. The role of experimentation is crucial for imagining these incommensurable alternatives as it is the foundation for the translations which can potentially be actualized, demonstrating that scientific change– as well as economical and societal– are not cumulative or progress driven (conceptual conservatism), but rather never-ending spirals full of ambiguity and constant change. The incommensurability of scale and its different translations, instruments, affects, and misinterpretations will be the main exploration topic for this course.

4.301- Scale, Signal, Spectrum offers an introduction to artistic experimentation through the lens of incommensurability. By focusing on observation, measurement, and translation of the environment, this course employs artistic methodologies in order to understand conceptual and political implications of scaling mechanisms by way of time and space through biological, geological, astronomical, urban, and mechanical devices and lenses. Students will produce their own time-based instruments of environmental observation, learning from a variety of contemporary and historical technologies such as astrolabes, pantographs, and geological sections to scanning devices, radio antennas or electromagnetic signals. Strong interest is vested not just in the prototyping, conception, design, and implementation of such experiments but on their deployment and observation in public space.

Through a series of lectures, presentations, walks, and trainings, students will be introduced to a wide variety of research based artistic practices that deal with the matters of scale and its possible translations. Students will develop three studio-based exercises using different scales as media where we will explore site interventions and strategies for artistic engagement in the public realm. The production of time-based media/ instruments of environmental observation include: printmaking, molding and casting, scaling mechanisms, sonic translations, visual representations, and time-based recording devices.

4.301 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

Students select thesis topic, define method of approach, and prepare thesis proposal for SMArchS degree. Faculty supervision on an individual or group basis. Intended for SMArchS program students prior to registration for 4.THG.

Introduces critical theories and contemporary practices in the field of urbanism that challenge its paradigms and advance its future. Includes theoretical linkages between ideas about the cultures of urbanization, social and political processes of development, environmental tradeoffs of city making, and the potential of design disciplines to intervene to change the future of built forms. Events and lecture series co-organized by faculty and doctoral students further engage and inform research.

Examines the complex development of cities through history by tracing a diachronic accumulation of forms and spaces in specific cities, and showing how significant ideas were made manifest across distinct geographies and cultures. Emphasizes how economic, spiritual, political, geographic and technological forces have simultaneously shaped and, in turn, been influenced by the city. 

Preparatory research development leading to a well-conceived proposition for the MArch design thesis. Students formulate a cohesive thesis argument and critical project using supportive research and case studies through a variety of representational media, critical traditions, and architectural/artistic conventions. Group study in seminar and studio format, with periodic reviews supplemented by conference with faculty and a designated committee member for each individual thesis.

Preliminary study in preparation for the thesis for the SMArchS degree in architecture design. Topics include literature search, precedents examination, thesis structure and typologies, and short writing exercise. 

Note 1/30/23: Schedule change from TR 1-6 pm to TR 2-6 pm.

As the US population continues to relocate to sunbelt states, Phoenix has become one of the fastest growing metros in the country. This influx of new people during recent extreme droughts has pushed water resources and heat impacts to their limits; Phoenix is now the hottest city in the US. For those who still live in the urban core, the lack of shaded landscape and abundance of heat absorptive building materials has produced dangerous living conditions. Our studio is tasked with the challenge of designing “cooling” infrastructure, through architectural and landscape, while providing housing solutions for the inner loop neighborhoods of Phoenix. We will examine the inner loop of Phoenix to reimagine how new landscapes, infrastructures and housing typologies can be combined for “cooler,” safer, and healthier living.

This joint urban studio presents a new pedagogical model that brings together planners (DUSP students) and designers (ARCH) around a shared urban challenge. The studio will be offered as 2 study modules. The first module, which takes place over 6-7 weeks and includes a spring break trip, will focus on research -‘reading’ the metro landscape through analytical representation and mapping, and then further programming and writing a project brief which will inform design projects goals and parameters. The second module, which takes place over the following 6-7 weeks, will advance the learnings and briefs created in the first module to work on the design project in two groups. Working collectively, one group will develop a vision plan for the future of the inner city loop, and the other will be working on designing a ~60 unit housing cluster within an existing ‘loop’ neighborhood. As a whole the studio, through its research and design components, seeks to promote new approaches to urban living that address environmental, social, and economic challenges as presented by the Phoenix inner loop.