History of architecture

Architectures of the 19th century: the city of public facilities

This course looks at the history of architecture and the city over the long 19th century (from the 1770s to the 1910s) from the angle of the epistemological and technical upheavals linked to the Enlightenment and the so-called “Industrial Revolution”, with their consequences and developments continuing throughout the 19th century right up to the Great War. It therefore aims to cover all territories whose built environment is affected by – or expresses – these phenomena: Europe and its national empires, the United States. Above all, it aims to give an idea of the extraordinary dynamism, richness and diversity of the architectural and urban production of this period, transformed by the emergence of new ways of knowing both the past (archaeology, historicism…) and the physical and natural world.

COMPETENCIES
-Continued acquisition of fundamental knowledge and vocabulary specific to 19th-century architecture and the social contexts of the period.
-Development of critical thinking skills. Ability to provide an argument in written expression, to conduct a critical reading of a text and place it in context, to describe architecture and the city through text and drawing, using appropriate vocabulary.
-Ability to interrogate the project design and execution process using historical examples.

At the heart of the proposed historical reading is the general issue of the search for and development of new architectural languages in the face of major changes in the social and economic framework and significant developments in technical knowledge. Over and above the chronological thread that runs from the last quarter of the 18th century to the threshold of the 20th century, and which remains at the forefront of the subjects covered, themes will be highlighted, sometimes transversal – throughout the 19th century – sometimes linked to a significant conjuncture. The aim is to avoid ready-made definitions of stylistic eclecticism and to grasp the complexity of the relationship to history cultivated by 19th-century architects.

Examination at the end of the semester.

The catch-up will take a similar form.

The course outline and bibliography are posted online at the beginning of the semester on Taïga.