To describe about “what is History of Western Architecture”, the best thing would be to refer to this book by Wodehouse and Moffett, ‘A History of Western Architecture’ where in the introduction chapter, they referred to Marcus Vitruvius Pollio in 40 B.C., whose treatise, The Ten Books on Architecture identified three essential qualities of architecture: utilitas, firmitas, and venustas or commodity, firmness and delight.
They explained it well, however I would like to explain it from a non-historian angle. Yes, I am not a historian but I am teaching a history class, so my methodology is based on a trained architect point of view, shaped by learning from various teachers, and a notable historian, Professor Dr James Stevens Curl, whom I greatly admire.
When I think of the Vitruvian principles: commodity, firmness and delight, these three qualities sums up exactly what architecture is about. That it be useful/usable, stable/structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing. Of course, we could make a long list of criteria on what architecture should be, but by referring to these three essential qualities, we can analyse through our readings and understanding about architecture throughout the ages.
The approach in studying this course will be based on examples of buildings and “their contribution to the development of a style or building technique or for their illustration of cultural expression” (Wodehouse and Moffett, 1989)
The other emphasis for this course is to understand the architecture throughout history, in terms of the development of different building types use; the development in construction, material and techniques employed to build them and the approaches in making the science and art of the aesthetics.
The two credit course has two objectives. That students will get an overview of what is Western Architecture in terms of the various historical development and how to read text and interpret the historian’s text and present oral and written reports.
INTRODUCTION TO ASSIGNMENT
The course assignment constitutes 40% of the overall marks where 10% is obtained from the oral presentation and 30% will be in the form of an essay. The content of the essay and the oral presentation is regarding an architect or a group of architects or an organization and a building to represent his/her/their work, philosophy and ideas.
Course Assignment (40%) where the other 60% is Examination
10% – Oral Presentation in English with Powerpoint
30% – Essay (Not more than 8,000 words)
Topic: (to be given to students as soon as possible)
PART ONE: ORAL PRESENTATION (10%)
1) An individual presentation on the architect and the building represented and feedback will be allocated 15 minutes per student presenter. The presentation should not exceed 10 minutes and be conducted individually and in the English Language. Students are advised to use powerpoint presentation with not more than 10 slides. The lecturer will use the remaining 5 minutes to ask a question regarding the presentation and review the important points to the class.
2) The student presenter must in the beginning of the presentation distribute an A4 sheet to each individual where there is the summary of the presentation. The idea is so that each student will have a folder of references of each presentation for use.
PART TWO: ESSAY (30%)
The essay should not be more than 8,000 words which about 10 pages long without counting illustrations and diagrams. Language can be in English or Malay.The writing format should be in ‘arial’ font only, using 11 font size, ‘single-spacing’ on an A4 paper with portrait format.
The following content should be included:
- Introduction (10%)
- Background and influences on the architect (15%)
- Architect’s philosophy and the impact of his/her/their theory and thoughts on other architects and/or movements of his time when he was alive and also the architectural movement after his passing. (20%)
- Describe the characteristics of a building that he/she designed and the relationship between the architectural philosophy and his/her ideas in terms of theoretical, technological, social, cultural and other developments (30%)
- Conclusion. Provide your opinion on why the architect was important in the context of History of Western Architecture and your learning of history and theory. (20%)
- References. List all references that must incluye at least 2 books which are published and not found online. Wikipedia and encyclopedia is not counted. (5%)
Course Information 2010/11 word doc
| Nama Pelajar | ARCHITECT | BUILDING / PROJECT |
| ABDUL MU’IZ BIN ROSLAN | Walter Gropius | Bauhaus, Dessau |
| ALIYAA SURAIYA BINTI MOHD HILMI | Paul Rudolph | Yale Art and Architecture Building |
| BILLY TAN CHOO KHEE | Louis I Kahn | Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadebad |
| FAEZAH BINTI ABD AZIZ | Giuseppe Terragni | Casa Del Fascio |
| KHAIRUL IZHAR BIN ALLI | Robert Charles Venturi | Vanna Venturi House |
| KU HASNA ZURIA BINTI KU ZAINOL ABIDIN | Rem Koolhaas | Kunsthal |
| LAI YOKE HAW | Mies Van Der Rohe | Seagram building |
| LEE SIEW KHENG | Zaha Hadid | Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art |
| MASSITAH BINTI SAARI | Peter Behrens | Turbine factory |
| MASYITA BTE RAMLI | Peter Zumthor | Saint Benedict Chapel |
| MEOR HAKIMI BIN MEOR ISMAIL | Alvar Aalto | SaynatsaloTown Hall |
| MOHAMAD FARIS BIN MOHD ASRI | Gerrit Rietveld | Schroder-Schrader House |
| MOHD AFIF BIN MOHD SAID | Oscar Niemeyer | National Congress of Brazil |
| MOHD AISAMUDDIN BIN AHMAD | GDP Architects | Troika Condominium |
| MOHD FAIZUDDIN BIN ZAINAL ABIDIN | Aldo Rossi | Gallaratese Housing |
| MUHAMMAD TARMIZI BIN MOHD ISMAIL | Jorn Utzon | Sydney Opera House |
| MUHD AIZAT SYAMIM BIN SAMSUDIN | Kenzo Tange | Yoyogi National Gymnasium |
| NABIHAH BINTI ABDUL HAIYEE | James Stirling | University of Leicester’s Engineering Building |
| NABIHAH BINTI ZAINOL ABIDIN | Frank Lloyd Wright | Johnson Wax Building |
| NG SHIAW WEI | Bruno Taut | Glass Pavilion |
| NGA AI MAY | Renzo Piano & Richard Rogers | Pompidou Centre |
| NOOR HAFIZA HAFIFI B KAMARUDIN | Frank Gehry | Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao |
| NUR ATIKA BINTI ZAINAL | Hermann Hertzberger | Central Beheer |
| NUR FARAH ATIKAH BINTI MOHD RAZIF | Ken Yeang | Mesiniaga Building |
| NUR FASEEHA BINTI ABD. AZIZ | Le Corbusier | Unite d’Habitation |
| NUR IZNI BINTI RAMLI | Eero Saarinen | TWA Terminal at JFK Airport |
| NURLISA FAIZZARA BINTI MOHD RASHID | Frank Lloyd Wright | Falling water |
| PANG LAI TENG | Metabolist – Kurokawa | Nakagin Tower |
| SITI KHADIJAH BINTI KASIM | Sant’Elia and Futurist | Casa Nuova |
| SITI NUR SABILAH BT MOHD SANI | Adolf Loos | Looshaus (Goldman and Salatsch Building) |
| SOON AI EE | Fosters and GDP Architect | University Technology Petronas |
| TAN KEE LOON | Luis Barragan | Cuadra San Cristobal, Mexico |
| WAN NURAIN NABILAH BT WAN ABDULLAH | JKR Architects | National Mosque Kuala Lumpur |
| WONG KEE YUN | Jean Nouvel | Institute du Monde Arabe |
| YEO TING YAN | Alison & Peter Smithson | Smithdon High School |
| NEO CHUN PING | Mies Van Der Rohe | Farnsworth House |
| AYAA SHAWQI AL-MAHAL | Archigram | Plug-in City & Walking City |
| ABDULLAH ZAWAWI BIN HISHAM | Antonio Gaudi | Casa Battlo |
| CHIA YAO QING | Norman Foster | Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank |
Posted on July 13, 2010
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