Class Theories of Space

The unit of Theories of Space concentrates on the issue of space in modernity and post-modernity, taking into account the affirmation of the metropolitan condition and the constitution, evolution and questioning of the modern architectural project. The concept of space in modernity gathers a plurality of architectural discourses of multiple field of knowledge that cross architecture ans urbanism in the XIX and XX centuries. The contamination with the human and social sciences and the artistic investigations allows for an opening of the field of architecture as complex and integrated disciplinary practice. It aims at understanding the architectural phenomenon as a process where space and time contribute to the dynamic construction of concepts in architecture, in proximity both with the issues of the city and landscape, as with the historical, cultural and social contexts. Finally, it seeks to promote a greater awareness of the architectural design as a cultural and theoretical act.

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1. Introduction to the theories of space. Perceived space, represented space and designed space. 2. The philosophical problematic of modernity. The definitions of modernity, modernization and postmodernity. 3. The metropolitan phenomenon and urbanization. The experience of the metropolis and capitalist and industrial affirmation. 4. The modern architectural project. The avang-gardes as a programatic response to the metropolitan condition. 5. The megastructures of the 60s and 70s. The utopias facing the consumer's and generalized communication's society. 6. The disciplinary influence of phenomenology in architecture. The architectural manifestations of phenomenological space. 7. The disciplinary influence of semiology in architecture. The architectural manifestations of semiological space. 8. The disciplinary influence of critical theory in architecture. A discipline between autonomy and interdisciplinarity.  

The classes will be made up mainly by three complementary strands. On the one hand, there will be explanatory theoretical sessions about the thematics in the program, accompanied by audiovisual material. On the other hand, there will accompanied readings of fundamental essays about the theoretical thematics in the program, in order to promote the collective critical debate. Finally, the development of the work by the students will be accompanied throughout the semester, through discussion and supervision.

CATTANEO, Elisa C. (ed.) (2015) Loaded Void: City Theory Since 1956. Santacangelo di Romagna: Maggioli. CHOAY, Françoise (ed.) ([1979] 2002), O Urbanismo: Utopias e Realidades. Uma Antologia. São Paulo: Perspectiva. UR/22-BC CONRADS, Ulrich (ed.) (1971). Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-Century Architecture. Cambridge-Massachusetts: The MIT Press. AQ/282-BC LEACH, Neil (ed.) (1997). Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory. London/New York: Routledge. AQ/192-BC RODRIGUES, José Manuel (ed.) (2010). Teoria e Crítica de Arquitectura: Século XX . Lisboa: Ordem dos Arquitectos / Caleidoscópio. AQ/412-BC TAFURI, Manfredo ([1980] 1984). La Esfera y el Laberinto: Vanguardias y Arquitectura de Piranesi a los Anos Setenta . Barcelona: Gustavo Gili. VÁZQUEZ, Carlos García (2016). Teorías e História de la Ciudad Contemporánea : Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.