School of Design
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
Graduate Level Course Descriptions: 2003-2004
Studios
. Workshops . Required .
Designated . Electives
. Summer Programs . Ph.D. .
Course
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Semester Offered=
(A)Fall (B)Spring (C)Either
(D)Both (L)Summer
STUDIOS
501. Design
Studio I. (A) Faculty. Corequisite(s) ARCH 521; 2 c.u.
An introduction
to architectural design exploring the complex relationship between representation
and production. Architecture as a visual and constructional phenomenon is
understood through geometry and its perceptual and expressive distortion.
A series of design exercises explores the geometries of representation and
production through the possibilities of intervention in a setting, measuring
and marking space and bringing materials into a state of construction.
502. Design
Studio II. (B) Faculty. Corequisite(s) ARCH 522; 2 c.u.
This studio
will explore urban architecture as an embodiment of cultural values. Siting,
enclosure of space and tectonic definition will be stressed, in order to challenge
students to project relevant and inventive architectural situations.
601. Design
Studio III. (A) Faculty. Corequisite(s) ARCH 621; 2 c.u.
The third semester
of the core sequence seeks to develop positive attitudes toward, and an understanding
of, architecture as the art of making buildings. The projects are selected
to emphasize that the making of buildings is not only an essential aspect
of architectural design, but is an integral component of the development or
formation of an architectural intent. Studios taught by a collaborative team
of design critics make explicit the relationship between man-made and natural
systems, materials and assembly, and architectural intent and form.
602. Design
Studio IV. (B) Faculty and Visiting Critics.; 2 c.u.
Elective studios taught by design faculty and visiting critics. Several studios are offered from which students make a selection.
A number of these studios are led by internationally-known visiting critics.
701. Design
Studio V. (A) Faculty and Visiting Critics.; 2 c.u.
Elective studios
taught by design faculty and visiting critics. Some studios are of half-semester
duration to increase the range of studio experiences. A number of these studios
are led by internationally-known visiting critics.
702. Design
Studio VI. (B) Faculty and Visiting Critics.; 2 c.u.
Elective studios taught
by design faculty and visiting critics. Several studios are offered from which
students make a selection.
A number of these studios are led by internationally-known visiting critics.
704. Research
Studio. (B) Faculty. 2 c.u.
An in-depth
exploration of a topic or theme established by an individual faculty member
or group of faculty members.
706. Independent
Thesis. (B) Faculty. 2 c.u.
Begins with
"Thesis Preparation" and ends with a "Thesis Project". The former concludes
with a preliminary written document which includes a thesis statement. Program,
site case studies research, schedule of implementation and bibiography; the
latter culminated in a design project presented through a series of drawings
and/or modules utilizing various scales and modes of representation. The two
come together in the final "Thesis Book: which provides comprehensive evidence
of this process from its inception as a "hypothesis" put forward to the faculty,
to its investigation and interpretation through an "architectural project".
WORKSHOPS
521. Visual
Studies I. (A) Phillips & Faculty. Corequisite(s): ARCH 501;
.5 c.u.
An introduction
to the discipline of architectural drawing with the intent of developing the
abilities of analysis and projection through drawing. Five intensive workshops
will be held throughout the semester accompanied by drawing exercises and
individual critiques to develop abilities of analysis and projection through
drawing.
522. Visual
Studies II. (B) Phillips & Faculty. Corequisite(s): ARCH 502; .5 c.u.
A continuation
of the study of analysis and projection through drawing and computer visualization.
621. Visual
Studies III. (A) Veikos & Faculty. Corequisite(s): ARCH 601; .5 c.u.
A continuation
of developing the abilities of analytical thought and furthers exploration
of representation through digital media. With the advent of technology and
digital media, the possibilities for the investigation of representation and
its relation to the formulation of architecture in a culture characterized
by the dynamic proliferation of virtual information proposes new modalities
of operation, and furthers representation through the interface of the immaterial
(software) and the material (hardware) lending itself to new modes of thought.
REQUIRED
COURSES
511. (HSPV580)
History & Theory I. (A) De Long
The primary
emphasis is on exploring architectural principles and concepts which have
a timeless validity. The architectural elements and principles of spatial
arrangement explored in the course can be further tested by application in
the studio context.
512. History
& Theory II. (B) Leatherbarrow
The topics
of this course are a number of the ideas and places which persist in architecture
because they are always invented. Being oriented towards topics, this course
is neither theory in the strong sense nor about form in the general sense;
rather, its subjects are the places where the knowledge inherent in creative
making are located.
531. Construction
I. (A) Falck .5 c.u.
Course explores
basic principles and concepts of architectural technology and describes the
interrelated nature of structure, construction and environmental systems.
532. Construction
II. (B) Falck .5 c.u.
A continuation
of Construction I, focusing on light and heavy steel frame construction, concrete
construction, light and heavyweight cladding systems and systems building.
533.
Environmental Systems I. (A) Malkawi .5 c.u.
An introduction
to the influence of thermal and luminous phenomenon in the history and practice
of architecture. Issues of climate, health and environmental sustainability
are explored as they relate to architecture in its natural context. The classes
include lectures, site visits and field exploration.
534. Environmental
Systems II. (B) Braham .5 c.u.
This course
examines the environmental technologies of larger buildings, including heating,
ventilating, and air conditioning, lighting, and acoustics. Class meetings
are divided between slide lectures, work sessions, and site visits.
L/L 535.
Structures I. (A) Farley .5 c.u.
Theory applied
toward structural form. A review of one-dimensional structural elements; a
study of arches, slabs and plates, curved surface structures, lateral and
dynamic loads; survey of current and future structural technology. The course
comprises both lectures and a weekly laboratory in which various structural
elements, systems, materials and technical principles are explored.
L/L 536.
Structures II. (B) Farley .5 c.u.
A continuation
of the equilibrium analysis of structures covered in Structures I. The study
of static and hyperstatic systems and design of their elements. Flexural theory,
elastic and plastic. Design for combined stresses; prestressing. The study
of graphic statics and the design of trusses. The course comprises both lectures
and a weekly laboratory in which various structural elements, systems, materials
and technical principles are explored.
611. History
& Theory III. (A) Mertins.
This seminar
attempts to rethink topics which persist in architectural theory. While built
works and drawn projects will be the point of focus in the course, the materials
used include original treatises, essays and letters.
631. Technology
Case Studies. (A) McCleary
The intent
of this course is to study the active and actual integration of the various
building systems in high-profile projects. To understand the process of building,
one method is to analyze, through comparison, the process of design and construction
in buildings of similar typology. The goal is to bring forward the nature
of the relationship between architectural design and engineering systems,
and highlight the crucial communication skills required by both the architect
and the engineer. Projects compared include the G. Howe and W. Lescaze's PSFS
vs. N. Foster's Hong Kong Bank and R. Meier's High Museum of Art vs. R. Venturi's
Seattle Art Museum. Examples of emerging building technologies will also be
discussed.
671. Professional
Practice I. (A) Steinberg .5 c.u.
An Introduction
of students to the architectural profession. This course will explore the
organizational design of architectural practice through course work, field
trips, readings and an on-line discussion group.
672. Professional
Practice II. (B) Steinberg .5 c.u.
A continuation
of ARCH 671. Further study of the organizational structures of architectural
practices today. The course is designed as a stimulating workshop that allows
students and future practitioners the opportunity to develop the analytical
skills required to enter the practice world.
DESIGNATED
COURSES
632-001.
Space and Structure. McCleary
1 c.u.
Study of the continuum from architectural space through
geometric space to structural systems and materials. Vector analysis (direction,
orientation and magnitude) of the isotropy (directionality of activities)
of space. Summary of spatial types: cave, hut, tent; or Classical, Modernist,
raumplan, Constructivist, De-constructivist, smooth and striated, “complex,”
etc. Classification of structural systems by axes of restraint, degrees of
freedom, dimensionality and geometry of curvature. Summary of structural
systems: changing geometry of configurations; and compressive masonry, flexural
steel and reinforced concrete, tensile planar fabrics and linear ropes. Rheology
of flow of force and axes of strength of materials. Synthesis by integrating
the weave of space with the warp and weft of the structural system and material.
Case studies: from stone to cast-iron and steel, from stone to reinforced
and prestressed concrete; from masonry to cable-net and glass; from canvas
to carbon fiber, etc. Readings from the humanities and the sciences. Exercises
in transformations of material, structure and space.
632-002.
Dimensions of Sustainability Martin. 1 c.u.
Architecture
is an inherently exploitive act – we take resources from the earth and
produce waste and pollution to construct buildings. Do architects have
an ethical and environmental responsibility to minimize these effects?
This course will explore the shifting definitions of “sustainability”
as it relates to the practice of making architecture. Over the past ten years the green building movement has begun to move into
the mainstream of architectural practice. The course will review this trend
and the varying strategies and approaches to sustainability from neo-indigenous
to eco-tech. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of sustainable design,
there will be guest lecturers who are landscape architects, hydrologists,
urban designers – professionals whose sphere of expertise is different than
the architect’s. Coursework will include short essays and longer research
projects.
632-003.
the
Shift Turnbull/Ruy 1 c.u.
the
SHIFT: This course will attempt to think through the paradigm shift
in the architectural discipline that many have remarked on, and generally
associate with the development of digital design procedures and the
emergency of innovative modes of thinking associated with non-linearity.
It is customary to observe this shift occurring in the second half
of the twentieth century, linking theoretical advances in mathematics,
evolutionary biology, genetics and thermodynamics to global transformations
economically and technologically, the widespread adoption and acceptance
of personal computers, and the accelerating penetration of electronic
communications networks into all areas of the world. The proliferation
of terms: chaos, complexity and emergence, and the investigation of
structural geometries defined by movement, vectors, rather than static
x.y.z coordinates suggests a new aesthetics, an aesthetics of calculus.
We will track the prolonged development of this shift, using exemplary
buildings as a guide, starting in the middle of the nineteenth century,
and will suggest that the shift is not as radical as it is often claimed
to be, and indeed continues to evolve. The course will comprise of
6 lectures and 6 workshops involving the preparation of detailed studies
of buildings, completed or projected, combining documentary research,
the collection of drawings and their interpretation through digital
and physical modeling to reveal structural form, material qualities
and performative properties - the focus will be on building designs
which demonstrate an explicit engagement with the structural engineering
discipline, where the cultural ambition of the project is served by
a powerful expression of material and structural capacities
632-005.
Concepts of Structures. McCleary 1 c.u.
A
classification of structural configurations considering the significance of
their dimensionality, directionality, axes of restraint and degrees of freedom.
Isotropy of material, structure and mathematical space.Taxonomy of braced
frameworks, in general, and trussed beams in particular. Vector analysis of
flow of forces in extrados, intrados, and web. Comparison of bridge trusses
with USA patents. Detailed study of King-post, Queen-post and lenticular trusses.
Structural analysis of trusses using 'Graphic Statics' and computer techniques.
Introduction to Euler's 'law of topological invariance' and B. Mayor's 'Graphic
Hyperstatics' Evaluation of American trusses using J. C. Maxwell's lemma:
minimizing potential energy and proportioning of materials in tension and
compression A. G. Michell's theory of minimum volume braced frameworks: comparison
of efficiency of extant roof and bridge trusses with Michell full and half-field
configurations. Pre-stressed
tensile trusses and Le Ricolais' 'funicular polygon of revolution,' and 'stiff,
hollow rope.'Geometric
space of the tensile rope truss.
Each student interprets
a truss patented in the USA. The interpretation includes an explanation of
the historical facts, built examples and a computer structural analysis; an
evaluation of its efficiency in terms of strain energy for a given potential
energy, and in comparison to Michell's minimum volume frameworks; an expression
of the rational improvements that could be proposed.
638-001. Building Acoustics. Woodger.
This six-week course covers the fundamentals of architectural
acoustics. The lectures cover the
following topics: overview of acoustics in the built environment, the role
of the acoustic consultant and the interaction with the architect, fundamentals
of sound - sound measurement and representation, sound generation and propagation,
sound absorption and reflection and sound isolation and transmission, acoustic
materials, case studies of acoustics in building projects, the history and
future of performance space design. The course will include measurements and testing
in Irvine Hall and two assignments, one practical (Boom Box) and one theoretical
(Sound Space). The course will be
conducted by Neill Woodger, who is Principal Consultant with Arup Acoustics
office in New York.
638-002. Building Envelopes. Cavallero.
This course will focus on the parameters used in the selection,
design, and construction of high-performance building skin enclosures.
Lectures will analyze: design parameters; structural determinants as
they pertain to industry developments involving thermal expansion, lateral
and gravity loading; architectural principles; material selection; thermal;
conceptual estimating and scheduling; procurement and bidding options; construction
administration; project mock-ups and field testing.
Lectures will be hosted by Alberto Cavallero, RA, and will feature
key Kling Lindquist architects and engineers as guest lecturers.
Students will attend field trips and complete an experimental design
project.
638-003. Biotechniques.
Braham
In the last half-century, buildings have become bigger in
a new and bulked-up sense, enclosing ever larger volumes, which have been
engineered for ever greater comfort and productivity. This bulking-up of
modern construction has been made possible by its systems of conditioning
- air conditioning, artificial illumination, plumbing, electric power, telecommunications,
and now networked information flow - which have enabled buildings to assume
radically new scales and configurations. The intensification of conditioning
also operates on the inhabitants of buildings, literally conditioning them
to want and then “need” the new services, and steadily escalating the levels
of comfort and convenience they expect.
The course will provide an architectural account and environmental
assessment of this transformation in contemporary building, tracing the intensification
of the environmental technologies from the 1950s to the present. It begins
with the now canonical discussions of mechanization in modern architecture
by Mumford (1934), Giedion (1948), and Banham (1969), subsequent session
will address the following topics: big and bulky describes the new form of
conditioned building attained in the 1950s and 1960s, while system space
examines the concepts and infrastructure that emerged from system theory;
conditioned atria investigates the introduction of plants into the office
and especially the plant-filled atrium developed to relieve the bulkiness
of buildings in the 1970s and 1980s, while primitive space/therapeutic space
examines the notions that explained the effect of those plants and spaces,
especially in relation to environmental illness; double walls considers the
activated curtain walls featured in the highly ventilated “green” buildings
of the 1990s and early 2000s, while flow space/phase space assesses the new
models of flows, exchanges, and phase thresholds that inform those highly
adaptive and responsive constructions
638-004.
Building Systems. Farley.
This course examines current and developing practices,
techniques and technologies in the design of the modern building systems. Through lectures and exercises, the course
will address: history and development
of systems in light of the changing definition of comfort; infrastructure
as it relates to the design and selection of individual building systems;
building automation and smart technologies; and distribution and integration
techniques for water, air, power, and information.
Lectures will be hosted by Richard Farley, AIA, PE, and will feature
key Kling Lindquist architects and engineers as guest lecturers. Students will attend field trips and complete
individual research projects.
772.
Professional Practice. (B) Harris.
This course
addresses the nature, planning, management and administration of various disciplines
generally referred to as professions. The subject matter will draw on the
fields of historic preservation, architectural, engineering and legal practices;
however, the course is designed to appeal primarily to the disciplines represented
in the School of Design.
ELECTIVE
COURSES
711. Architecture,
Ecology and the City. (A) Anderson , Leatherbarrow and Vesely
Eutopia, then, lies in
the city around us; and it must be planned and realized, here or nowhere,
by us as its citizens - each a citizen of both the actual and the ideal city
seen increasingly as one.--Patrick Geddes. Cities
in Evolution.
It is neither love for
nature nor respect that lead to this schizophrenic attitude. Instead,
it is
a sentimental desire to toy, rather patronizingly, with some insipid, standardized,
suburbanized shadow of nature - apparently in sheer disbelief that we
and
our cities, just by virtue of being, are a legitimate part of nature too,
and involved with it in much deeper and more inescapable ways than grass
trimming,
sunbathing, and contemplative uplift.--Jane Jacobs. The Death
and Life of Great American Cities.
Contemporary mythologies,
definitions, and depictions of Nature in cultural regions ranging from academia
to pop-culture are multiple and often contradictory, but at least one theme
is consistent: Humanity and Nature have reached an impasse - as if they were
separate universes bent on each other's destruction. This couching of urbanity
as antithetical to that which precedes it contributes to a growing confusion
about nature, cities, and their relationship, a confusion that can be shown
to be mutually impoverishing and destructive. Just as a parasitic relationship
of humanity to nature is untenable, so too does the perception of such a relationship
become self-fulfilling: the museumification of nature and the concurrent alienation
of our cities from natural depth leads to a terrible cheapening of the beauty
and complexity of both our awesome dependencies and our creative necessities.
Is the tapping of what
is latent -nature - for the substantiation and sustenance of civility inescapably
parasitic? Are we truly left to choose only between the celebration of insipid
sprawl or a nostalgic and pretentious resistance? This course seeks alternatives.
Is it possible to set the majestic workings of that which is beyond us in
relationship to the structure of our shared lives so that the value of both
are strengthened and made evident in the practice of our daily existence?
Is it possible that our relationship to the world is ultimately predicated
by our relationships with each other, that civilization and environment are
integral? How might a single architectural work engage and affect such urban-scale
issues?
In an effort to generate
a productive dialog regarding these and similar issues, this seminar will
make use of lectures, readings, student presentations, and open conversation.
The lectures will be given by Stephen Anderson and David Leatherbarrow from
Penn's faculty, and Dalibor Vesely, who will be visiting the School of Design
from Cambridge in November. The readings will be comprised of several pertinent
texts, including works by Geddes and Jacobs, cited above, Le Corbusier, and
others. Working in teams, students will research and present relevant works
by various designers, including Piano, Noguchi, Herzog, and Latz.
712. The Philosophy
of Materials & Structures. (B) De Landa
This seminar will introduce students to all the basic concepts in Materials
Science, stressing not only the usefulness of this knowledge for the purposes
of design but also its intrinsic interest as a basis for a technically-sound
philosophy of matter. Lectures will include: Deleuze and the Genetic Algorithm
in Architecture; History of Materials Science; The Importance of Scale; Metallurgy
and Fracture Dynamics; The Mathematics of Structure; Nanotechnology and its
Consequences; The Materials Revolution; Organic Materials; The Mathematics
of Structure; and Virtual Materials.
713. Readings.
(A) Rykwert.
Readings and
evaluation of the significant theories in the major architecural treatises,
e.g., Vitruvius, Alberti, Viollet-le-Duc, Ruskin, and Le Corbusier.
715. Memorials
and Memory. (A) Rybczynski.
Since the beginning of
civilization, people have built monuments to the dead. The debate over exactly
how to memorialize the victims and heroes of 9-11, particularly at the World
Trade Center site, have raised-again-the question of exactly what constitutes
an appropriate monument for our time. Is there such a thing as a modern monument?
Or is there a contradiction between the modern condition and monuments, as
Lewis Mumford claimed? And even if the idea of a modern monument is accepted,
what sort of architectural and artistic language is to be used? Individual
memorials have usually included figurative sculpture; have such monuments
become obsolete? What is the relationship between the event or person being
memorialized, and the monument itself? What role do acts of commemoration
(e.g. wreath-laying, leaving mementos, personal visits) play?
This year the seminar
on architectural criticism will explore these and associated questions. We
will examine memorials-new and old-both in formal terms as well as in terms
of content. This will involve examining art, architecture, and landscape design.
The seminar will include
a field trip to Washington, D.C. to visit several memorials, including the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Women in Military Service for America Memorial,
the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument.
Visitors currently being
considered include Raymond Kaskey (World War II Memorial, the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial, Washington, DC), Marion Weiss (the Women in
Military Service for America Memorial, Washington, DC), Allan Greenberg (Holocaust
Memorial, NYC ), and Moshe Safdie (Children's Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem
).
716. The Politics
of Time: Active Time in Cinema, Architecture and Urban Landscape. (B)
Keller.
Since the birth of cinema, architecture, urban space and ideas of landscape
have played a crucial role in the visual representation of space on screen.
As contemporary discourse is reinventing the idea of landscape and providing
us with the idea of multiple layers of overlapping ‘scapes’, so also has
the concept of landscape evolved within cinema. One of the key hypotheses
we will examine in this course is the presence and function of time within
cinematic and urban landscapes. Cinema has compressed into just over one
century all the representational and philosophical themes that our built
environment has been driven by for over a thousand years. The films we will
survey in this seminar evidence a variety of landscapes, each of which generates
different forms of time. Several dozen films in a wide range of film genres
and periods will give cinematic illustrations of each concept of landscape,
and will be joined with selected examples from landscape, urbanism, and architecture.
We will read from a core group of theorists and philosophers addressing the
themes of time, power, and space that the films evidence. A common theme
present this semester will be that, in each of the varying kinds of time
we see evidenced, there is a deeply political nature. In fact, these 'Politics'
of time suggest that all experiences of this new concept of landscape are
both intensely political and temporalized. We will use cinema to rethink
the application of landscape as a mediated system which establishes connectivity
both in terms of space and time.
719. Architecture and
Public Space (A) Rykwert.
'Architecture and the other Arts': This
course will examine changing relationships between Architecture and the
other 'Fine' Arts. At
the end of the eighteenth century architecture became a profession and separated
from the other arts. At the same time, professionals became obsessed with
a new architectural problem: in what style should they build? The styles
of the past were examined for indirect lessons while painting and sculpture
became
increasingly estranged from building, until in 1917, Marcel Duchamp could
make a work of art out of a common sanitary fitting, a urinal, by simply
designating
it as one. We have not quite come to terms with this gesture or its consequences.
The course will consider the events leading up to Duchamp' s gesture and
how
the notion of what is and is not art has been affected by it. This will involve
reflection on how art has related to public space in the eighty years since,
and whether in the late twentieth/early twenty-first century, the city has
managed to absorb and/or value works of art.
722. Furniture
Design (B)
Jones.
Introduces design concepts
and strategies of furniture design. Provides practical insights into the
material manipulation and aesthetic experimentation that are essential
for the design and fabrication of furniture. Lectures and case studies
help students to learn from examples and develop their own designs. Through
a series of exercises, students design and fabricate a prototype for a
chair using actual materials. The course addresses problems unique to furniture
design, such as scale, weight, cost and production.
731. Experiments
in Structure. (A) McCleary.
Studies of
the relationship between geometric space and structural configurations. Experiments
with a three-dimensional lenticular truss or "hollow rope" composed
of tensile wires and compressive diaphragms. Observation, measurement, demonstration
and documentation of the physical relationships between the weaving patterns
of the tensile system and their patterns of braiding with the compressive
system. Test of the hypothesis that movements can be controlled by patterns
of deployment, weaving, braiding and pre-stressing.
Discovery of the isotropy of anticlastic spaces and their relationship to
the rheology of the concomitant structural configuration.
732. Building Systems
Integration. (A) Malkawi.
This course explores the interrelationships of environmental
control systems by means of building type studies. Innovative systems will be emphasized. Projects
such as residential, educational and commercial buildings, office and assembly
buildings, and facilities for research and manufacturing will be analyzed
in details. The Operational characteristics
of buildings will be studied with regard to occupancies and their needs.
The relationship between energy conservation and the principles of
initial building cost versus life cycle costs will be discussed.
733.
Archigram and Its Legacies, Technology as a Public Event. (B) Fierro
This research seminar examines contemporary architectural work through the
legacy provided by the 1960’s British counter-cultural group Archigram. The
first part of the semester consists of reading discussions and lectures where
students research various topics related to the emergence of the group, for
example concepts of urban event (from Gidieon to Tschumi), 60’s conceptual
art, and the simultaneous appearance of the Japanese Metabolists and Megastructuralists.
The second part of the semester comprises student case study presentations
of contemporary work that extends Archigram’s blend of technological expression
and urban event. Emphasized will be work of British hi-Tech architects (Rogers,
Grimshaw, etc.), Japanese “bubble” architecture of the last eighties and
early nineties, and more recent work embracing forms of digital technologies
in the urban realm.
737. The Structural
Research of Robert Le Ricolais. (A)
McCleary
Examination of the physical
models (1954-75) and writings (1935-77) of Le Ricolais’ experiments
in structure.
Both in the possession of the Architectural Archives at Penn. Explanation
of Le Ricolais methods of analysis and design:e.g. rhetoric and the
paradox, structures in
nature, topology, mechanics, aesthetics. The paradox as a logical construct:
e.g. columns suspended in the air, strength and fragility, the order
of destruction
follows the order of construction, the art of structure is where to
put the holes, a stiff-hollow rope, more is less. The “prodigies created
by nature”:
e.g., mineral crystals, soap film, radiolariae, geodesics, germinal cell,
and automorphism. Topology: e.g. Euler’s law of topological invariance,
connectivity,
economy of networks.
Mechanics: e.g. graphic statics, comparison of alternative configurations,
least weight structures, vibrations, minimal surfaces, prestress, space frames,
weaving. Aesthetics: sense of order, beauty of failure, privileged arrangements,
repetition of form, Evaluation of Le Ricolais
search for an ‘indestructible idea.’ Analogies with natural forms, e.g. radiolarian.
Structural forms are influenced by the rapport between forms and their mirror
images (dual, image, automorphs, enantiomorph, isomorphs, bimorph), and the
distribution of material in space (inertia, directionality, dimensionality
and isotropy).
739. Building Pathology
(A) Harris
This course addresses
the subject of building deterioration and intervention, with the emphasis
on the technical aspects of deterioration. Construction and reconstruction
details and assemblies are analyzed relative to functional and performance
characteristics. Lectures cover subsurface conditions, structural systems,
wall and roof systems, and interior finishes with attention to performance,
deterioration, and stabilization or intervention techniques.
741. Contemporary
Ideas in Architecture. (A) Rahim.
This seminar will explore
conceptual organizational schema, and their manifestation in architectural
production, as presented by Experimental Architects using digital media. One
of the most obvious characteristics of the media is the way in which it brings
about changes in the patterns of physical objects and processes from conception
to production. The thought process that accompanies this change is agile and
relies on a wide-ranging knowledge of philosophy, cultural theory and the
natural sciences. We will be examining these three intellectual lineages and
their various influences on, and ramifications for, conceptual thought processes,
spatial organizations and techniques of manufacturing and construction available
today.
742. Digital
Morphogenesis. (B) Kolarevic.
This
seminar course examines methods in contemporary architectural design in which
digital media is employed not as a representational tool for visualization
but as a generative tool for the derivation of form and its transformation
– the digital morphogenesis. It explores the possibilities for the "finding
of form," which the emergence of various digitally based generative techniques
seem to bring about. The course surveys the digital generative processes based
on concepts such as topological space, isomorphic surfaces, kinematics and
dynamics, keyshape animation, parametric design, and genetic algorithms,
and demonstrates their use in contemporary architectural design.
744. Digital
Fabrication. (B) Kolarevic.
This seminar course will
investigate the fabrication of digital structures through the use of rapid
prototyping (RP) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technologies,
which offer the production of building components directly from 3D digital
models. In contrast to the industrial-age paradigms of prefabrication and
mass production in architecture, this course focuses on the development of
repetitive non-standardized building systems (mass-customization) through
digitally controlled variation and serial differentiation. Various
RP and CAM technologies are introduced with examples of
use in contemporary building design and construction.
745. Information
Culture: The Web as Polis. (A) Di Simone.
The ubiquity and ease
of publishing content on the web has helped define a culture, a culture that
architects are engaging actively by leveraging unique ideas of inhabitation
and experience through graphical and technical means. The online medium has
borrowed from many analog precedents including graphic design, film and architecture,
but finds its success in collapsing these models into a unique form of communication
through experience in the evolving datascape. When this experience is coupled
with theoretical and philosophical underpinnings, there exists the potential
for an unprecedented medium of expression.
748. Post-Media (B) Veikos.
Ephemeral image spaces
The seminar will focus on contemporary
movements in media art which rehearse architectural techniques such
as those
that organize and structure perception. The work of artists including
Char Davies, Diana Thater, Jennifer Steinkamp, Jason Salavon and ART
+ COM will be discussed in relation to investigations of the constitution
of presence through images. The seminar will explore the concept of
“the vanishing interface,” a condition of fusion with the image medium
through techniques of “immersion” and polysensory interaction. The
use of scientific visualization techniques, including image evolution,
current in nanotechnology and robotics will be considered in relation
to the work of these artists, contemporary video artists, and architects.
In the preface to his 1936 essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction,” Walter Benjamin implies that there is “prognostic value” to
his effort, calling it “a thesis about the developmental tendencies of art
under the present conditions of production … [its concepts] useful for the
formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art.” This seminar
provides a forum for the discussion of an analogous contemporary thesis concerning
the effects of new media on the production, representation and reception
of art and architecture and its potential to formulate new inquiries and
demands. In tandem with this research, students will conduct their own digital
experiments regarding ephemeral image spaces and the possibility of a new
synthesis in techniques of art, architecture and new media.
752. Case Studies/Urban
Design. (B) Hack.
Three case studies will explore the many
dimensions of urban design, focusing this year on "vision" or "ideology"
as the driving force behind those projects which go beyond mere "big
architecture" or "planning with a pencil:" First, a comparison
of Presbyterian Yale University and Quaker / non-sectarian University of Pennsylvania, exploring the campus
as urban design paradigm; second, Battery Park City, one of the most successful
urban design projects in the United States, now to be re-examined in the wake
of September 11; third, an investigation
of Las Vegas, the transformation of The Strip and its role as precursor of the 21st century American city
(field trip scheduled over Spring Break). In addition to Architecture enrollments, maximum
nine students to be accepted from the Department of City and Regional Planning,
the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning and / or the
Program in Historic Preservation.
753. (UDES753)
Mapping the Non-Traditional City. (A) Snyder.
Architectural/urban
culture conventionally defines urban form as a result of the forces of production--a
dense centralized core that served the advantages of agglomeration economics.
This is the paradigm of the traditional city. However, the facts of our contemporary
economy reveal instead an economy driven by the forces of consumption. It
has been observed that the "transformation of persons from workers into modern
consumers in a global marketplace may well have been the greatest social change
since industrialization." In the non-traditional city both physical and cultural
juxtapositions abound. The spatialization of contemporary life and the physical
forms and fabric that supports it call into question traditional definitions
of "urban life" and "city form". The seminar's broad context is the interface
between the changing spatial and cultural landscape of this new urban realm
and the context of everyday private and public life.
762. Design
& Development. (B) Rybczynski.
Many factors affect architectural design, including architectural style,
building technology, functional demands, social needs, and the forces of the
marketplace. The examples discussed
focus on the places where we live, work, shop, and play. Topics include domestic design, planned communities,
and new urbanism. The course consists
of lectures, reading assignments, short essays, a group project, and an exam.
Invited lecturers include architects, real estate developers, and homebuilders. Readings consist of a Bulkpack available from
Wharton Reprographics. There are two
books recommended for additional background reading. Douglas Frantz, "From the Ground Up: The
Business of Building in the Age of Money," and Witold Rybczynski,"Looking
Around: A Journey Through Architecture."
764. Design-Build. (A) McDonald
The Design/Build Seminar will investigate the historical and theoretical
underpinnings of what we now loosely refer to in the field of architecture
as 'design/build'. It is a course which focuses directly on the space between
architectural theory and practice, and how that space has transformed since
the Renaissance. We will be looking at two changing "relationships"
in this seminar: the relationship between architect and builder and between
drawing and building. As such, we will be looking at the history of the "architect"
per se and the shifting role, significance and perception of architecture
as a "profession" and specific discipline of knowledge. The intention
of the course is to enable students to articulate "design/build"
as an alternative and critical form of contemporary practice and education.
765. Project
Management. (A) Arena.
An introduction
to techniques and tools of managing the design and implementation of large
construction projects. Topics include delivery systems, management tools,
cost-control and budgeting systems, professional roles.
Case studies serve to illustrate applications. Cost-control and budgeting
systems are described. Case studies illustrate the application of techniques
in the field.
768. (REAL821)
Real Estate Development. (B) Nakahara. Pre-Requisite:
Real Estate 721
This
course analyzes the development process in terms of the different functions
performed by real estate developers and architects, and the interrelationships,
between these two professions. Emphasis is placed on property evaluation site planning, building
design, underlying economics and discounted cash flow analysis. Outside lecturers are featured.
773
. Metamorphosis. (A) Atkin.
This course
will investigate building as the transformation of the exisiting character
of the site, the program, and the
architect. The evolution of building form will be examined through the study
of the determinants and morphological strategies modification. To inform our
study, we will examine concepts of metamorphosis in mythology, literature,biology,
and cultural anthropology. We will ground the investigation through the interpretive
study of the building process and architecture of pre-historic societies of
Southwest America, Japan, Renaissance Rome and Turin,
and the contemporary work of Carlo Scarpa, Alvaro Siza and Juan Navarro Baldeweg
and others. In addition to seminar and lecture readings, students will be
required to investigage an aspect of metamorphosis in architecture, urban
design, or landscape through an interpretive study of their own design,developed
in consultation with the professor, and presented to class.
790. Research
in Architecture (A) Turnbull
This course prepares students
for ARCH 704 Advanced Design Studios by examining the scope of research culture
as it has developed in architecture over the past decade and as it evolves
to address new conditions. The instructor and guests, including faculty who
will offer advanced design studios and supervise theses, review specific research
topics and methodologies.. Students are required to either write a term paper,
document a rigorous process of research, or prepare a design that tests an
hypothesis or demonstrates a proposition arising from a specific research
agenda.
999. Independent
Study. (C) Faculty.
These studies
are arranged between the faculty and students in areas of mutual interest.
SUMMER
PROGRAMS
500. Summer
Preparatory Studios . (L) Mitnick; 2 c.u.
The summer
architectural preparatory program offers an intensive design experience to
candidates for admission to graduate programs in architecture who have not
completed the necessary prerequisites or are required to have additional design
experience to qualify for acceptance into a Master of Architecture program.
782. Summer
Program in Paris. (L) McCleary.
Studies of
historical development of the city plan and architecture of Paris. Emphasis
on building and urban technology and the continuum of material, constructional
and structural systems and space. Among those architects and engineers studied
are: Gothic Masters, Perronet, Rondolet, Polonceau, Labrouste, Viollet-le-Duc,
Baltard, Eiffel, Astruc, Guimard, Sauvage, Hennibique, Perret, Chareau, LeCorbusier,
Freyassinet, Prouve, Nouvel, Piano, Perrault, Arup, Rice, and Ritchie. Half
of the lectures and site visits are conducted by Penn faulty: Peter McCleary
and Annette Fierro. Other lectures conducted by faculty and architects from
Paris and Lausanne: David Bigelman, Jean-Louis Cohen, Maurice Culot, Marc
Deming, Jacques Fredet, Jacques Gubler, Bernard Huet, Fernando Montes, Antoine
Picon and Serge Santelli.
784.
Summer Program in Japan. (L)Locher/ Maruyama/Atkin
The course
is a broad introduction to the architecture and building practices of Japan,
including the historic and contemporary development of Japanese concepts of
space, materials and technology. Interpretive studies of significant buildings
and landscapes will be made during three weeks of structured travel at sites
including Takeyama, Shirakawago, Ise, Koyasan, Kyoto, Ine, Osaka, and Kobe.
The course also includes a workshop with young Japanese architects. Special
emphasis on the study of landscape design or urban Japan can be arranged with
the instructors.
Summer 2004 offerings
are not available at this time.
PH.D.
COURSES
811. Theory
I. (A) Leatherbarrow.
This seminar
attempts to restore the questionableness of topics which persist in architectural
theory. While built works and drawn projects will be the point of focus in
the course, the materials used include original treatises, essays and letters.
This course will act as a foundation for scholarly research and publication.
812. Theory
II. Standard/Nonstandard (B) Mertins.
This seminar examines the work and writings of selected architects
of the twentieth century in the context of the history of modernization
in both its industrial and post-industrial stages. The course focuses
on theories and practices related to the issue of standardization within
modern architecture and the shift towards differentiation, mass customization
and the nonstandard over the past several decades. The requirements for
the course include a term paper (20 pages), a paper proposal with annotated
bibliography and an oral presentation.
850. Special
Topics - Architecture and Philosophy. (A) Leatherbarrow.
The aim of
this course is to discover and investigate the possible contribution twentieth
century philosophy can make to contemporary architectural discourse. The working
premise is that these texts were written for readers both in and outside that
discipline. Specific philosophical texts will be studied, partly in themselves
but also as they shed light on topics that regularly concern architects. The
course will be run as a reading seminar, and is intended for upper level Ph.D.
students. For admission to the course permission of the instructor is required.
851. Bibliography.
(D) Faculty.
Preparation
of student's bibliography in conjunction with the professor chosen as his/her
dissertation supervisor. Section number will be determined accordingly.
852. Dissertation
Proposal. (D) Faculty.
Student will
formulate his/her dissertation proposal with the guidance of the professor
chosen as his/her dissertation supervisor. Section number will be determined
accordingly.
revised 16 November 2003