Theory of Architecture 1

Mario Carpo
Institut für Architektur, Theorie der Architektur
2021W, Vorlesung und Diskussion (VD), 2.0 ECTS, 2.0 SemStd., LV-Nr. S03632

Beschreibung

 

--- sent to all enrolled on 22 jan ----

to all enrolled:

our next session, and last for the term, will be online, as planned, on mon 24.01.  the conventional start time being at 6pm, we shall meet live on zoom at 7pm, vienna time, for the usual session of q+a and wrap up discussion (after you have watched the videos).

find the 3 links here below.  watch the 2 videos in this order (... first video first).  to be noted, the first part of the first video is a recap and amplification of stuff i told you the last time we met, live on zoom, on 6 dec.; as there is no recording of that session, i included it in this video; but if you were there, are remember it well, you may skip the first 25' of the first session. 

when we meet live on zoom, we shall also discuss the time and format of the end-of-term exam (a short written assignment)

see you there!

m.-  

https://youtu.be/AwGZCOX4pRI

part 1, 40'

https://youtu.be/-RICPCy4Oo4

part 2, 60'

 

Mario Carpo is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Mario Carpo's Zoom Meeting

Time: Jan 24, 2022 07:00 PM Vienna

Join Zoom Meeting

https://dieangewandte-at.zoom.us/j/61833260840

Meeting ID: 618 3326 0840

 

---  sent to all enrolled on 5 dec ---

class of monday 6 dec 

the first part of the class is pre-recorded; you will find it here:

https://youtu.be/qvhwWhwJbOc

the duration of the talk is 50', so you can actually start watching it on monday at 6pm.

the second part of the talk will be live on zoom, starting at 7pm: find the link appended. my presentation will be brief, around 20', so there will be time for q+a. prepare your question on part 1 in advance!
see you there,
m.-


Mario Carpo is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Mario Carpo's Zoom Meeting
Time: Dec 6, 2021 07:00 PM Vienna

Join Zoom Meeting
https://dieangewandte-at.zoom.us/j/61649320270

------------

sent to all enrolled on 21 nov

dear all,

as planned, tomorrow's class will be entirely online. it will consist of two prerecorded talks, to be watched sequentially, followed by a discussion session, live on zoom, starting at 7pm vienna time. these are the links:

1st talk :
https://youtu.be/1CsOE6pCpaM
duration: 48'

2nd talk:
https://youtu.be/dExbQ_wb3Q4
duration: 55'

(the combined duration of the two talks is around 100', so i suggest you start watching before 6pm. however, the first 15' of the second talk are a recap, so you may skip if needed).

after you have watched and digested the two talks, we meet on line for a q+a session at 7pm vienna time, in this zoom room:

https://dieangewandte-at.zoom.us/j/61095831460
Meeting ID: 610 9583 1460

come with questions.
(all the above also posted on the base, on the base entry for this class)

see you tomorrow!

m.-

---------------------------------------------------------

class of 8 nov, part 1 : pre-recorded

https://youtu.be/FPnJh7_jBi8

 

part 2 : on site.  an audio recording will be made available asap 

---------------------------------

 

 

--------sent to all enrolled on 22 oct ------- session of monday, 25 october

as mentioned, this class will be entirely on line, as i am not in vienna.  my talk is prerecorded, and for technical reasons is divided into two segments, to be watched sequentially:

part 1 : 65',
https://youtu.be/5_w04gPG0VI

part 2 : 35',
https://youtu.be/4h9lfNj1pXY

after you have watched the videos at your convenience, we shall meet on zoom for a live session of q+a at 7pm vienna time (this is to give you the time to watch the videos; note however that the combined duration of the two videos is 100', so i suggest you start watching them before 6pm, if you can).

live session at 7pm:
https://dieangewandte-at.zoom.us/j/68760589214

prepare good questions. see you there,

m.-

P.S.
a voice-only recording of the second part of our session on mon, oct 11 is now available at the URL here below, courtesy of sarah
https://youtu.be/z82wB8NnQow

 


---------------------------- sent on oct 8 to all registered--------   CLASS on MONDAY 11 OCT 6pm, lecture room 1.   before you come to class, you should you watch this general introduction to the course (duration 50').   https://youtu.be/HDp3FF2DNrw it was recorded for some of my bartlett students, but it will serve us too.  watch it in advance and at your leisure, think it over and prepare queries; the subject of my talk on monday evening will start right were the recording ends.  this way, we shall have more time together, at school, for discussion and q+a.    as this is my first class in physical presence since march 11, 2020, and i am not familiar with the new logistics, please bear with me by abiding by these guidelines:  wear a mask even while sitting, and try to keep the usual "social distances".  i shall do the same, but i may have to remove my FFP2 mask if you cannot hear my voice!    for those who may not be comfortable with these conditions, the session will be recorded and posted on line (perhaps voice-only, but the essential will be there).      ----------------------   

 

 

 

 

Theory of Architecture 1 (2021W, VD, Vorlesung und Diskussion) and Theory of Architecture 2 (2022S, SEW, wissenschaftliche Seminar)

 

ThArch1 and ThArch2 during the academic year 2021-22 will be similar in content to the same classes taught during academic year 2020-21.   At the time of this writing (22 July) I expect all classes to be held in physical presence; however, this will be contingent on the conditions of travel between London, where I reside, and Vienna.  In case of logistic impediments, the course will seamlessly shift to online mode, if and when needed.  

Theory of Arch 1 (lectures and discussion, term 1) and Theory of Arch 2 (seminar, term 2) are sequential courses, and both will consist of lectures and seminar-like discussions throughout both terms.  While it is possible to take ThArch 1 during the first semester and not ThArch2 during the second, I would recommend not to take ThArch 2 in the second semester without taking ThArch 1 in the first, as the course in the second semester will build upon work done during the first. (Students will be allowed to join ThArch 2 without having followed ThArch 1, but they may be asked to do some supplemental work at the start of the second term, to catch up).    

 

Taken together, Theory of Architecture 1 and 2 aim to present a comprehensive survey of computational design history and theory from around 1945 to this day, with emphasis on the 1990s and on contemporary developments.  This survey will be mostly chronological, with the first term covering events till the late 1990s and the second term covering the last 20 years and contemporary topics, problems, and perspectives.

 

GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION (applies to ThArch1 and ThArch2):

 

These two courses will assess the present state of computer-based design by situating today's digital turn within the long duration of the history of cultural technologies.  The first course will start by describing the technical logics of hand-making, mechanical reproductions, and digital making, highlighting the differences between digital variability, manual and artisanal variations, and the mechanical mass-production of identical copies.  It will focus on some instances of identical reproduction that were crucial in architectural history, and particularly on the early modern invention of architectural notations and of architectural authorship (the rise of the ‘Albertian paradigm’ in the Renaissance), and on the modernist principle of standardization in the 20th century.  It will then outline a brief history of the digital turn and of its theoretical and technological premises: starting with a brief survey of the "prehistory of the digital" in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, highlighting the roles of Wiener's cybernetics and the first steps of Artificial Intelligence up to and including works of Cedric Price, Gordon Pask, and Nicholas Negroponte; then discussing decline and fall of technological optimism in the 1970s and the onset of the so-called "winter of artificial intelligence."  It will then focus on the turning point of the early 1990s: the legacies of Post-Modernism, Deconstructivism and the invention of the Deleuzian Fold; works of Bernard Cache and Greg Lynn; the rise of the spline-dominated environment in the late 1990s (Gehry, Catia, and technical history of splines and NURBS); the transition from free-form, topology and digital formalism to mass-customization and non-standard seriality.

 

The second term will start with a brief recap of topics discusses in the first term, then pursue the same historiographic timeline starting from around year 2000: the burst of the dotcom bubble, the re-invention of the "participatory web" (the Web 2.0) in the early 2000s, and more recent developments in digital interactivity, participatory making and building information modelling (BIM), followed by a discussion of general problems of digital authorship ("from mass-customization to mass-collaboration").  ThArch2 will then discuss the present state of digital design theory and computation, and particularly the cultural and epistemological implication of Big Data, recent developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, and their consequences for the making of form (the legacy of the post-modern sciences of complexity, emergence and self-organizing systems; cellular automata, generative algorithms, simulation, optimization, material computation, bio-computing, and discretization).  Particular attention will be devoted to recent developments in non-standard robotic assembly, on research on "computational discretism" currently pursued at the Bartlett School of Architecture, and elsewhere; and on the politics and social implication of post-parametric design computing. 

 

 

TEACHING METHOD:

 

Both courses will be based on the instructor's presentations, in the format of academic lectures; each lecture will be followed by a round-table discussion.  It is expected that we shall be able to invite a number of guests speakers (either in person or on-line) to present topics derived from their own research or practice.  The timing of these invitations will depend on the guest speaker's availability, so these presentations may not be in sync with the chronological timeline covered by the instructor's own presentations.  Students will be asked to make an effort to reconstruct an orderly sequence of topics and content in spite of some accidental disorder in the sequence of the guest speakers' talks. 

 

 

STUDENTS' WORKS (ThArch 1 and 2): 

The default mode of validation for ThArch1 will be an exam (a dissertation of around 1,500 words on an assigned topic, to be submitted within 48 hours from the moment the topic is posted; date of the exam to be determined asap).  Alternatively, and with permission from the instructor, some students in ThArch1 may choose to write a research paper.  The paper will test the interpretive patterns discussed in class by developing a case study of the student's own choice (of a media object, object, building, software, or technology).  The topic will be agreed with the instructor.  Students having chosen this "research" option will prepare an oral presentation of around 15' bearing on the proposed subject of research (to glean feedback from the instructor and from peers) then write a paper of no more than 1,500 words; deadlines to be announced asap.  The "research" option in term 1 is recommended for students planning to take ThArch2 in term 2; a research topic may (but does not have to) be carried over from term 1 to term 2.

 

Students enrolled in ThArch2 in term 2 will write a research paper of no more than 3,000 words in the modes and formats outlined above.  This paper may (but does not have to) be a development of the paper submitted at the end of term 1. 

 

All word counts include foonotes but exclude bibliography, captions, and appendixes (documents, drawings, visuals and other multi-media supports if needed)

 

 

 

SYLLABUS AND SCHEDULES:

 

A 2.5-hour session will be held every two weeks, with extended discussion sessions on days to be determined throughout the two terms, when students will be asked to prepare formal presentations.  Itemized syllabus to follow asap.  Tentative schedule : classes on alternate Mondays, 18:00-20:30, starting  11 Oct  

 

 

 

Basic Bibliography

 

1 - Textbooks for the course:

Mario Carpo, The Second Digital Turn. Design beyond intelligence (Cambridge : MIT Press, 2017)

---, The Alphabet and the Algorithm (Cambridge : MIT Press, 2011)

---,  The Digital Turn in Architecture, 1992-2012.  An AD Reader (Chicester : Wiley, 2012)

 

2 - Additional readings:

 

---, "Rise of the Machines. Mario Carpo on Robotic Construction." Art Forum 58, 7 (2020): 172-79, 235

 

---, "Digitally Intelligent Architecture Has Little to Do with Computers (and Even Less with Their Intelligence)" GTA Papers (Zurich, ETH), 3 (2019) : 112-120.  On line publication forthcoming.

 

---, "Republics of Makers," in Imminent Commons: Urban Questions for the Near Future, Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2017, edited by Alejandro Zaera-Polo and Hyungmin Pai, 302-09 (Barcelona : Actar, 2017). Also on line at http://www.e-flux.com/architecture/positions/175265/republics-of-makers/

---, "The Alternative Science of Computation," E-Flux, New York (electronic publication, June 2017: http://www.e-flux.com/architecture/artificial-labor/142274/the-alternative-science-of-computation/)

---, "Breaking the Curve. Big Data and Digital Design."  Artforum 52,6 (2014): 168-173. 

 

3 - Additional sources to be found in:

Gilles Retsin (ed.), AD 258 (2019), Discrete: Reappraising the Digital in Architecture

Molly Wright Steenson, Architectural Intelligence: How Designers and Architects Created the Digital Landscape (Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, 2017)

Daniel Cardoso Lach, Builders of the Vision. Software and the Imagination of Design (New York : Routledge, 2015)

Pablo-Lorenzo Eiroa and Aaron Sprecher, eds., Architecture In Formation (New York and Abingdon, UK : Routledge, 2013) 

Rivka and Robert Oxman, eds., Theories of the Digital in Architecture (New York and Abingdon, UK : Routledge, 2013)

Marie-Ange Brayer and Frédéric Migayrou, eds., Naturalizing Architecture (Orléans : Frac Center and éditions HYX, 2103)

 

> Examination Modalities English

 

See above for ThArch1 and ThArch2.

 

 

 

 

> Comments English

 

 

ThArch1 :  Registration (enrollment):

Formal registration (for validation, marking and credits) is limited to 40 participants. Priority will be given to architecture students; students from other institutes are welcome so long as there are places.  Non enrolled students are welcome to audit at will (within limits determined by room capacity; with no limits if on line)

Registration is open until two weeks before the start of classes (i.e. until 16 September)  and students will be informed of acceptance at latest one week before the start of classes. 

 

ThArch 2 : Registration (enrollment):

Formal Registration (for validation, marking, and credits) is limited to 30  participants;  non enrolled students are welcome to audit at will (within limits determined by room capacity; with no limits if on line).  Priority for registration will be given to architecture students having successfully completed ThArch1.

Further ranking is made by institute affiliation and semester-level. Students from other institutes are welcome so long as there are places.

 Registration is open until two weeks before the start of classes in the second term (i.e. until 14 February) and students will be informed of acceptance at latest one week before the start of classes

 

 

 

 

Examination Modalities

 

STUDENTS' WORKS (ThArch 1 and 2): 

The default mode of validation for ThArch1 will be an exam (a dissertation of around 1,500 words on an assigned topic, to be submitted within 48 hours from the moment the topic is posted; date of the exam to be determined asap).  Alternatively, and with permission from the instructor, some students in ThArch1 may choose to write a research paper.  The paper will test the interpretive patterns discussed in class by developing a case study of the student's own choice (of a media object, object, building, software, or technology).  The topic will be agreed with the instructor.  Students having chosen this "research" option will prepare an oral presentation of around 15' bearing on the proposed subject of research (to glean feedback from the instructor and from peers) then write a paper of no more than 1,500 words; deadlines to be announced asap.  The "research" option in term 1 is recommended for students planning to take ThArch2 in term 2; a research topic may (but does not have to) be carried over from term 1 to term 2.

 

Students enrolled in ThArch2 in term 2 will write a research paper of no more than 3,000 words in the modes and formats outlined above.  This paper may (but does not have to) be a development of the paper submitted at the end of term 1. 

 

All word counts include foonotes but exclude bibliography, captions, and appendixes (documents, drawings, visuals and other multi-media supports if needed)

 

 

 

Comments

 

> Comments English

SYLLABUS AND SCHEDULES:

 

A 2.5-hour session will be held every two weeks, with extended discussion sessions on days to be determined throughout the two terms, when students will be asked to prepare formal presentations.  Itemized syllabus to follow asap.  Tentative schedule : classes on alternate Mondays, 18:00-20:30, starting 11 Oct 

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES :  11 Oct, 25 Oct, 8 Nov, 22 Nov, 6 Dec, 17 Jan  

 ALL CLASSES 6PM to 8:30PM 

WARNING!!!  the system keeps tweaking the time of classes i type in, due to the different time zones!  and you would think that i could simply take that into account when typing my numbers in.  well: apparently:  not so easy.   anyways:  THE TIME OF ALL CLASSES ON MONDAY IS WHAT I TYPE HERE :  6:00  to 8:30 PM.  never mind what you read here below.  

 

 

 

 

ThArch1 :  Registration (enrollment):

Formal registration (for validation, marking and credits) is limited to 40 participants. Priority will be given to architecture students; students from other institutes are welcome so long as there are places.  Non enrolled students are welcome to audit at will (within limits determined by room capacity; with no limits if on line)

Registration is open until two weeks before the start of classes (i.e. until 16 September)  and students will be informed of acceptance at latest one week before the start of classes. 

 

Dates

 

Course Enrolment

Prüfungsmodalitäten

STUDENTS' WORKS (ThArch 1 and 2): 

The default mode of validation for ThArch1 will be an exam (a dissertation of around 1,500 words on an assigned topic, to be submitted within 48 hours from the moment the topic is posted; date of the exam to be determined asap).  Alternatively, and with permission from the instructor, some students in ThArch1 may choose to write a research paper.  The paper will test the interpretive patterns discussed in class by developing a case study of the student's own choice (of a media object, object, building, software, or technology).  The topic will be agreed with the instructor.  Students having chosen this "research" option will prepare an oral presentation of around 15' bearing on the proposed subject of research (to glean feedback from the instructor and from peers) then write a paper of no more than 1,500 words; deadlines to be announced asap.  The "research" option in term 1 is recommended for students planning to take ThArch2 in term 2; a research topic may (but does not have to) be carried over from term 1 to term 2.

 

Students enrolled in ThArch2 in term 2 will write a research paper of no more than 3,000 words in the modes and formats outlined above.  This paper may (but does not have to) be a development of the paper submitted at the end of term 1. 

 

All word counts include foonotes but exclude bibliography, captions, and appendixes (documents, drawings, visuals and other multi-media supports if needed)

 

Anmerkungen

SYLLABUS AND SCHEDULES:

 

A 2.5-hour session will be held every two weeks, with extended discussion sessions on days to be determined throughout the two terms, when students will be asked to prepare formal presentations.  Itemized syllabus to follow asap.  Tentative schedule : classes on alternate Mondays, 18:00-20:30, starting 11 Oct 

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1: 

OCT 11, 25; NOV 8, 22; DEC 6; JAN 17.   ALL CLASSES 6PM to 8:30PM at LECTURE ROOM 1

Note: In case of logistic impediments related to Covid Measures and conditions of travel from London, the course will seamlessly shift to online mode. In case of changes, all the info will be posted here and an email alert will be sent to all enrolled. 

 

 

 

Termine

11. Oktober 2021, 18:00–20:30 Hörsaal 1 , „physical class if not announced otherwise“
25. Oktober 2021, 18:00–20:30 Hörsaal 1 , „physical class if not announced otherwise“
08. November 2021, 18:00–20:30 Hörsaal 1 , „physical class if not announced otherwise“
22. November 2021, 18:00–20:30 Hörsaal 1 , „physical class if not announced otherwise“
06. Dezember 2021, 18:00–20:30 Hörsaal 1 , „physical class if not announced otherwise“
17. Jänner 2022, 18:00–20:30 Hörsaal 1 , „physical class if not announced otherwise“

LV-Anmeldung

Ab 23. Juli 2021, 00:32
Die Online Anmeldung wurde bereits geschlossen

Lehramt: Unterrichtsfach kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/003.80

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TransArts - Transdisziplinäre Kunst (Bachelor): Theoretische Grundlagen: Theoretische Grundlagen 180/003.01

Architektur (Master): Bereich Expertise: Theorie: Geschichte und Theorie der Architektur 443/003.01

Expanded Museum Studies (Master): Wahlfächer: Geschichte und Theorie der Architektur 537/080.22

Bühnengestaltung (1. Studienabschnitt): Kunsttheorie und Kulturwissenschaften: Kulturwissenschaften 542/107.02

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Medienkunst: Transmediale Kunst (2. Studienabschnitt): Wissenschaft, Theorie und Geschichte : Architekturtheorie, Architekturgeschichte 566/208.06

Medienkunst: Digitale Kunst (2. Studienabschnitt): Wissenschaft, Theorie, Geschichte: Architekturtheorie, Architekturgeschichte 567/208.06

Design: Grafik Design (2. Studienabschnitt): Theoretische Grundlagen: Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften 576/203.02

Design: Kommunikationsdesign (2. Studienabschnitt): Methodische und theoretische Grundlagen: Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften 577/203.02

Industrial Design (2. Studienabschnitt): Design im Kontext: Theorie und Geschichte des Design 580/202.11

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