SYLLABUS SEMINAR I
Themes in Contemporary European Architecture
Suzanne Strum
This course is designed as a series of thematic lectures on current European architecture that are complemented by site visits in Barcelona and environs to illustrative works. . This class begins by posing the question: If American and European architects now occupy the same intellectual space, in international journals, schools, forums and competitions, then how can we define European architecture today? Issues of urban history and politics, density, center vs. periphery, public space, transportation networks and public housing are some aspects of European architecture that are markedly different from their US counterparts and that will be explored. At the same time, European architecture now approaches an Americanized urbanism and building with globalized sites, enormous cultural containers, enclaves of consumption and theme parking. The selection of weekly readings assignments will explore these issues.
Meeting time: The 11 classes will meet 4 hours weekly during the semester, with lectures sometimes alternating with site visits. The last hour of each in class session will be used to meet with students individually in order to develop their project and presentation topic.
Evaluation: Students will be asked to develop a visual analysis and 7page research paper and presentation on a work or works of architecture in Barcelona. Evaluation will be based on attendance, participation in class discussions and the development and presentation of the project. All projects must be handed in bound hard copy form.
Session 1::Modernisme::Monday Jan. 14
The theoretical framework for turn of the century architecture and its manifestation and variations across Europe (Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, Secessionism). Special focus will be given to the work of Antoni Gaudi and other exponents of modernisme in Barcelona as well as the urban and social context. Analysis of Gaudi´s exploration of complex geometries, ruled surfaces, and cantenary arches realized with traditional construction.
Reading: William Curtis Chapter 3. The Search for New Forms and the Problem of Ornament. Pages 53-71. Modern Architecture since 1900 . Phaidon 3rd edition 1996
Session 2:Old City Visit::Monday Jan. 21
Raval, Gothic, and Ribera Areas to Ciutadella and Pompeu Fabra University. The aim of this visit is to underscore the public programs that have regenerated the area and the creation of new institutions within historic and new buildings.
Session 3::The German Pavilion ::Monday Jan. 28
Presentation Topics Due
Exploration of Mies' formation, influences and early work with their climax in the Barcelona pavilion’s classical allusions and supremacist space. Mies´s reputation as a modern master was based on five seminal projects created in the 1920´s that in fact were never built and the pavilion which was dismantled after six months. Focus on the building's reconstruction and its context. The work will be seen as a culmination of Mies´early career. What makes a work canonical?
Reading: Kenneth Frampton . Modernism and Tradition in the Work of Mies van der Rohe
1920-1968
Session 4::Visit to Colonia Güell::Monday Feb. 4
Meeting Point: Plaça Espanya Metros L3 L1 and L8
(Looking up the mountain from the Plaza you will see two brick towers. Sit to the right of the towers on the steps.) We will be taking a train to Colonia Güell from here. ) The train leaves at 10:09 but we will have to buy tickets first from the vending machines.
Cost: 2.80 euros entry to Colonia Güell Crypt and visitor center. Train costs 1.75 euros each way.
This factory town, located on the Llobregat River was modeled on English urban precedents. The urbanistic project, housing, school and collective structures were designed by Gaudí´s followers, while the master labored for eight years on the design for a church. Finally only the tiny but magnificent and experimental crypt was realized.
Discussion of Gaudi´s unusual experiential working method.
Session 5::Visit to Montjuic and public spaces in Sants::Monday Feb. 11
Meeting Point: The Olympic Stadium by the torch. Av de L´Estadi
Cost: 1.80 euros entry to Botanical Garden. 1.80 euros entry to Mies Pavillion
The itinerary will include the German Pavilion, Caixa Forum, the Botanical Garden, and three of the first public space making projects in Barcelona´s recent past.
Session 6::Visit to Diagonal Mar Park and the Forum Area::Monday Feb. 18
Meeting point: Metro Exit Selva del Mar Yellow Line L4
Works by EMBT. The office of EMBT, formed by the late architect Enric Miralles, and his partner Benedetta Tagliabue, have recently completed some major projects in Barcelona that exemplify the expanded notion of landscape.
TRAVEL WEEK
Session 7::Spanish Architecture::Monday March 3
Survey of Spanish architecture as seen through important figures and their works. Themes include the situation in Spain before and after the Civil War, the influence of Italian Realism and Rationalism, and the interplay of vernacular building methods, international currents, memory and construction. The work of Josep Lluís Sert and the GATEPAC, Coderch, Alejandro de la Sota, and Saez de Oiza will be discussed followed by the “Weak” architecture of Rafael Moneo. Discussion of the ideas of Ignasi de Sola Morales¨ “Weak architecture” vs Kenneth Frampton’s Critical Regionalism.
Readings: Kenneth Frampton Towards a Critical Regionalsm: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance Pages 16-31. Postmodern Culture. Edited by Hal Foster Pluto
Ignasi de Solà-Morales. Weak Architecture 1987Architecture Theory since 1968 edited by Michael Hays MIT Press
Session 8::Urban triggers 1:Containers,Events and Infrastructures::Mon. March 10
Paper Outlines Due
In the last 20 years Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and other European cities have experienced major urban transformations in relation to political programs. An examination of architectural works as generators of redevelopment: the proliferation of cultural containers, the building of modern transportation networks, the redefinition of industrial areas, the creation of new satellite towns and housing. Special focus of the relation of architectural works and urbanism. The importance of the Olympics and other ephemeral events. A comparison between different approaches to Europe´s second period of modernization and post-industrial cities. The Barcelona Model vs the Guggenheim Effect.
Urban Triggers 2 New Monuments: commemorating the past.
This session examines the proliferation of sites that act as memory markers and their importance in urban centers. The counter-monument movement in Germany
Reading : Ignasi de Solà-Morales Introduction. Present and Futures ACTAR 1996
James E. Young Memory and Counter-Memory. Available on line Harvard Design Magazine. Constructions of Memory. Fall 1999 Number 9
HYPERLINK "http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/research/publications/hdm/back/9young.html" www.gsd.harvard.edu/research/publications/hdm/back/9young.html
EASTER WEEK
Session 9::Contemporary themes and figures::Mon. March 31
Explores some of the major European practitioners today and the theoretical and constructive basis of their work. The present architectural scene is marked by a pluralism of approaches and attitudes. The session examines current strategies, debates and operations in the work of some of the major figures today such as Rem Koolhaas, and Herzog and de Meuron.
Reading: Rem Koolhaas Life in the Metropolis or the Culture of Congestion, 1977 Architecture Theory since 1968 edited by Michael Hays MIT Press
Bigness or the Problem of Large pages 495-516 SMLXL with Bruce Mau
Session 10::The expanding definition of landscape::Mon. April 7
In the last decade the definition of landscape and building have merged. Exploration of the affinities between land art, earth works and architecture and the tendency to use landscape, green zones and open space as integral design elements. Examination of some of the massive brownfield redevelopment projects across Europe.
Reading: Charles Waldheim. “Landscape Urbanism” in Praxis 4.
James Corner, “Eidetic Operations and New Landscapes,” in Recovering Landscape: Essays in Contemporary Landscape Architecture, ed. James Corner (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999), 153–169,
Session 11::Presentations::Monday April 14
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Project and Presentation Topics:
Themes in European architecture
Suzanne Strum
You are asked to choose a building or to compare works of architecture that are found in Barcelona and to develop both a graphic visual analysis complimented by a written text of approximately 7 pages. You should determine the best form of documentation and analysis that can be developed for the work or works that you have chosen. This visual analysis should include any of the following medium: photography, video, sketching, diagrams, building drawings, analytical details of the building. Since each building suggests a different mode of representation and analysis, and presents a different set of urban and architecturally formal issues, I will work with you at the end of the class sessions to develop the project.
Below are a list of historic and contemporary projects in Barcelona and some suggestions of references and orientation. You may also propose your own project, should you prefer. Bear in mind that the list below is just a point of departure.
1. Historic Buildings and their structural systems:
In Spain there is a tradition of buildings that extend a single structural system throughout. The Great mosque in Cordoba is an early example. In Barcelona the Drassanes shipbuilding yard, now the maritime museum is an example dating back to the middle ages. During the middle ages, Catalan builders developed their own massive version of Gothic architecture. The Santa Maria del Mar Church was constructed in only 50 years.
One of Gaudi´s teachers, the master builder Josep Fontsere created some unusual structures worthy of investigation. These include the Reservoir Building Carrer Wellington 50, now part of the Pompeu Fabra Ciutadella Campus Library.1874-1880Josep Fontserè i Mestres with Josep M. Cornet i Mas 1998-2000 renovation Lluís Clotet and Ignacio Paricio ; the shade house or umbracle in the Ciutadella Park and the Borne Market in Passeig del Borne.
2. The Working Methods and geometries of Gaudi
Gaudi developed an experiential working method and developed complex designs with hanging models and unusual complex geometries, sometimes inverting the lines of force of Gothic structures. Yet his buildings could be carried out with traditional building techniques from Catalunya. Study his working methods, construction methods such as the Catalan vault, develop and analysis representational techniques for one of his buildings or elements from different structures.
References: Gaudí Universe : CCCB, Zeta 2002.
Gaudí : exploring form : space, geometry, srtucture and construction. Ajuntament de Barcelona, Institut de Cultura 2002.
See the exhibition in the Sagrada Familia School.
3. Comparison of Works between Modernista Architects.
This project could look at some of the works by other modernist architects. Some examples are Lluis Domenech I Montaner´s Hospital San Pau, or Palau de la Musica.
Or Josep Maria Jujol´s projects in San Joan Despi and Barcelona including Casa Negre.
4. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: The Barcelona Pavillion
This is a canonical work of architecture. Why? Which architects have been influenced by the building and what structures are variations on it? What are the formal premises of the building. What is the importance of reflection and mirroring, of pinwheeling, etc.
5. Josep Lluis Sert: The Miro Foundation and the Maeght Foundation
Sert was committed to the idea of collaborations between architects and artists. These two buildings, one in Barcelona and the other in the south of France, are both material manifestations of that premise. The buildings are conceived as itineraries that highlight works of art. How was the Spanish Pavillion of 1937 a precedent for that. (this building has been recreated in Vall d´Hebron. What are the regional aspects of the building. What was Sert´s relation to Miro? Is the building a counterpoint to the works of art?
References: See the institutional websites. See monographs on Sert´s work and on the buildings. See: Sert, Josep Lluis, Ferdinand Leger, Sigfried Giedion. “Nine Points on Monumentality” pp. 14-16. In ed. Xavier Costa. Sert: Architect in New York. Barcelona MACBA ACTAR 1997.
6. Jose Antonio Coderch: Barceloneta, Ugalde House, Raset Housing,
Coderch was the most important architect of the post civil war period. His Ugalde House was a regional interpretation of the international style built into its site with organic lines. Catalan architects of the time were influenced by Alvar Aalto, the Finnish master. Coderch worked in various modalities. His urban projects deal with traditional materials and typologies reconsidered. Explore some of the projects by Coderch. Choose one or two for visual analysis.
7. Taller de Arquitectura. Ricardo Bofill: Walden 7, 1970-1975
This building was a utopian project, first conceived as The City in Space and influenced by both Team X and Archigram. Why? What are the formal ideas: the section, the massing, the modules.
References: Website Taller de Arquitectura, Walden 7: See Walden 7 : Taller de arquitectura / Fernando Marzá, Neus Moyano. — p. 18-53 : il. ; 27 cm. En: Quaderns No. 244 (Dic. 2004).
8. Enric Miralles and Carme Pinos: Archery Buildings at Vall de Hebron
These structures are premised on the formal investigation of the retaining wall as building.
As such they are related to Gaudi´s viaducts in Park Güell. These changing rooms and shower facilites are also designed around the idea of the movements of the body and were influenced by Peter and Alison Smithson. Why? The works are also more like landscape than architecture. In this they are connected to the more complex project from the same years: the Igualada cemetery.
References: Miralles, Pinós: obras y proyectos 1984-1987 in: El Croquis: Miralles/Pinos 1983-1990, 1987,
9. EMBT Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue: Santa Caterina Market
Markets are a very important part of neighborhood life in Barcelona. Many markets were created on the site of religious structures, that were demolished in the 1830´s. this is the case of the Boqueria market and Santa Caterina Markets. The San Antonio market was the only one built exactly according to Cerda. These buildings emerged just with the advent of cast iron structures. The recent renovation of the Santa Caterina Market was meant to try to leave the various levels of time that are to be found on the site. Compare Market types. Study the idea of reuse and time in the new market.
References: See city market websites: www.mercatsantacaterina.net www.mercatsbcn.com/ - HYPERLINK "http://www.boqueria.info/" www.boqueria.info/. Also see the architect´s website EMBT.
See El Croquis magazine no 100-101, 2000 on the work of EMBT.
10. Josep Llinas: Fort Pienç Community Center, Library, market, Daycare, School, and Assisted Living for the Elderly and Library Jaume Fuster.
This local architect, not widely known outside of Spain was trained by Coderch and has done a series of interesting community buildings in different parts of the city. The most recent are the Fort Pienç civic center, a community nodal point with a complex and varied program and the new library in Gracia at Plaza Lessesp. This is a chance to study mid scaled buildings with interesting premises of use, and massing. How can this work be traced back to regional precedents?
Address: Centre Civic Ateneu Fort Pienç C. de Ribes 2000-2003Josep Llinás
References: El Croquis 128
11. Richard Meier: MACBA
American architect, Richard Meier began as one of the New York Five, a group who looked back to the early purist works of Le Corbusier from the 1920´s but carried them out using balloon frame construction methods. He is also the author of many museums. How does this work compare to his other museum buildings. What is the relation of the atrium and ramp to the public plaza and to the galleries behind. What are the formal aspects of the building and what is the urban relation to the context?
12. Foster Tower and Calatrava telefonica Tower.
These structures became instant landmarks in the city. They are works of communication infrastructure. What is the concept and structural ideas of each. How have these architects dealt with the technological and symbolic aspects.
13. Reuse of existing buildings.
At a difference to other European cities, especially Italy, many buildings in Barcelona have been transformed over a period as long as 1000 years. This study looks at the reuse of historic exisiting buildings coinciding with the creation of new public institutions since the 1980´s. Some especially interesting cases are The Picasso Museum, (Garces y Soria) occupying 5 medieval urban palaces; the Pompeu University Ciutadella Campus in a series of old Army Barracks (MBM and Bonell Gill); the Center of Contemporary Culture in an old Orphanage (Viaplana I Piñon); the National Museum of Catalan Art, transformed in the interior (Gae Aulenti); the National library of Catalunya on the premises of the city´s first hospital from the middle ages; the Caixa Forum in a modernista textile factory (Brufau and Isozaki); and the Santa Monica Arts Center in an old monastery (Viaplana I Piñon).
References: Institutional web sites.
14. Rafael Moneo: L´Illa 1986-1993
Conceived of as a horizontal skyscraper, with a mixed program, including a shopping mall, offices, hotel and apartments, the building occupies a site equivalent to three Eixample blocks. The project responds to two urban modalities present over the length of the Diagonal: the traditional closed edification of the older Eixample implantations and the object building zoning of the new Diagonal. The building has been treated with a multiplicity of scales and readings. Moneo is an architect interested in typologies and context.
Address: Av. Diagonal, 555-559
References: El Croquis no. 20, 64 and 98
15. Carlos Ferrater. Botanical Garden and or Hotel Juan Carlos.
This Botanical Garden has an interesting conceptual premise and formal resolution. How do these two aspects work together? How does the layout and organization differ from traditional botanical gardens. How does this architect work with geometry. Compare this notion with other projects by the architects such as the Hotel Juan Carlos, an atrium hotel, or some of his urban housing schemes.
References: monographs and books by and about architects. Architects website. Jardi Botanic de Barcelona Website.
16. European Skyscraper
Recent European experimentation in high rise buildings has dealt with the problem differently than in the North American context. For one thing, these skyscrapers are of moderate height and do not compete against each other. They are generally more contextual, establishing relationships with their surroundings. They also raise specific technical problems in relation to structure, skin and climactic conditions. Historical precedents for the these buildings come from Torre Velasca and the Pirelli Building, both built in Italy in the 1960´s as well as the Smithsons´ Economist building, in London, 1961. In Barcelona there are also interesting examples from this period, including the Colon Tower, the Urquinaona tower, Atalya Tower, and Banco Atlantico.
Recent New examples, including some that are built and some that are proposed include Jean Nouvel´s Torre Agbar, Dominique Perrault´s Hotel, Rafael Soriano and Dolores Palacio Eco tower for Plaça de les Glories, EMBT Catalana Gas Building in the Barceloneta neighborhood, Josep Lluis Mateo Towers as part of the Congress Center at Forum 2004, Clotet and Paricio Residential Tower at Diagonal Mar Park and Richard Rogers Hotel in Hospitalet.
References: Josep Lluis Mateo. IV European Skyscraper. Pages 76-77, 130-157. Big Scale Grossform. Architectural Papers 2 and Nicolai Ouroussoff. Why Are They Greener Than We Are? Find on line On line New York Times Magazine May 20, 2007. Architects web sites and web site of Torre Agbar. MAP architects. El Croquis 112-113 on Jean Nouvel. El Croquis 104 on Dominique Perrault. Quderns 248 Clotet and Paricio Illa del Llum.
17. Aranda, Pigem, Vilalta RCR Arquitectes
Sant Antoni Library, Senior Citizens Centre & Block Inner Space
Carrer del Comte Borrell, 44-46 (Sant Antoni Barcelona)
The Eixample was not constructed according to Cerda´s original vision. Most of the interiors of the block were privatized. The Proeixample group has been buying back some partial areas of block interiors in order to provide public space. This is one of the most interesting recent examples and the most developed architecturally. The architects are from outside of Barcelona and are known for their highly abstract buildings. Look at the urban issue and compare this project with other recovered blocks. Look also at the architects´other works and develop an analysis.
References: Proeixample website. El Croquis 115-116 +18 In Progress 2002-2003
18. Roig i Batlle: Nus de la Trinitat and Parc del Garraf
These architects have developed unusual public spaces and landscape projects, related to infrastructural issues. In the case of the Nus de la Trinitat, this is a public park built within a highway interchange and related to other public projects over the Rondas. In the case of the parc del Garraf, this is a garbage infill project that has been transformed into an earth work.
References: Garraf park website: www.diba.es/parcsn/parcs/index.asp?Parc=10
Quaderns 243 Rondas and Nus de la Trinitat Quaderns 193.
19. Herzog and De Meuron Forum building.
What is the urban condiditon of the building. How does the building relate to the ground. What about surface and skin. How can it be compared with other recent buildings by Herzog and De Meuron, including the de Young Museum in San Francisco?
References: El Croquis 129-130
20. Public Space and urban Furnishings.
Each public space has its own identity with designed elements from street banners, kiosks, paving to lighting and benches. This project could be an analysis of historic and contemporary public spaces and their furnishings. Some examples might be Park Guell, the Parc Central of Nou Barris, Diagonal Mar Park, or public spaces in the Barceloneta. How are public spaces and their outfitting different from in the US? How is public space used and appropriated? Recently several companies have been involved in producing specially designed furniture: examples include BD´s banco Catalana, a wire mesh bench by Oscar Tusquets, as well a Escofet, a traditional family company of ceramic tiles that has collaborated with Enric Miralles and other architects to create urban furniture. The city even has a municipal department of urban furnishings that commissioned Norman Foster to create a bus stop shelter.
References: Barcelona 1979-2004
