University Modern Architecture Essay! Very Important, Very Essential.

PAPER 3

Due on Sunday December 4th. Structure your response as a well-focused essay of 1,250 words (approximately five pages) with a clear opening thesis, detailed examples and critical analyses, and a thoughtful concluding statement. You can develop a historically accurate and intellectually rich essay in 1,250 words. This means that every word counts: make sure that each sentence advances your argument (whether as a thesis, a description of an architect or building, an analysis of treatise or manifesto, or a critical reflection on key themes). Stay on topic and edit all irrelevant material. Remember: the essay is a work of architectural history; as such, concentrate on concepts (architects’ intentions expressed in buildings or manifestoes, as well as the social, political, or cultural conditions of the time), facts (dates and places), and close readings (detailed analyses of buildings, primary sources, or architects’ biographies). Avoid opinions; instead, focus on ideas. Before beginning, make an outline of your ideas. This will help you to develop a coherent and substantiated argument in every paragraph. Start by listing examples (e.g. architects, buildings, significant treatises, or historical events) along with the relevant primary and secondary sources related to each one. Figure out where, exactly, these case studies work best in the paper. Each question has multiple parts – rather than approaching it as a checklist, try to understand what themes and ideas 2 may link the sub-questions. Attempt to use the sub-questions as ways to organise the key points and/or arguments of your essay. When developing your argument, remember to describe the object! Carefully analyse buildings, architects’ ideas, and historians’ reflections: What does the building or city plan look like? What do the architect’s (or the critic’s) words mean? How are the writings and buildings related? What were the consequences of these works at the time? Do not neglect necessary information: name the architect, building, city, or treatise, and provide dates. Then, expand on this information – in other words, offer clear and coherent analyses of the actual architectural form, the theories informing its design, the architect’s words (along with the ideas behind them), and the historical context. Sometimes, opening with brief biographical background can orient the reader. Do not conclude simply by repeating what you have already argued; instead, aim at providing some critical-historical reflection (which can be done succinctly). Use the course readings (both primary and secondary sources), which must be properly cited, as the basis of your reflections. Additionally, you are required to consult at least three texts – scholarly articles and/or books – apart from the assigned courses readings. Wikipedia (or similar non-academic online information) is not an acceptable source; by comparison, Encyclopedia Britannica is. The paper must exhibit a defined thesis, strength and coherence of argument, clarity of writing, and properly formatted footnotes. What is a “thesis”? Oversimplifications such as “This paper will show why Frank Lloyd Wright was the best architect of the twentieth century” do not constitute a thesis statement. “This paper will argue that Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘organicism’ relies on recurring allusions to the prairie landscape” is unmistakably a thesis statement. Strive for clarity and precision while remembering that language need not be complicated. Be attentive to your choice of active or passive voice: because it is more complex, the passive voice must be used carefully and not by default because it can make texts difficult to read. Active voice: “J.J.P Oud designed the Kiefhoek row houses in 1925”; passive voice: “The Kiefhoek row houses were designed by J.J.P. Oud in 1925”. Avoid beginning sentences with the words “they” and “it” except for reflective statements (for example, “It is an interesting fact that...”); the use of “they” and “it” at the start of a sentence can lead to muddy writing. Avoid vague words, especially the over-used “style”. Proofread carefully – grammar, spelling, and style will be taken into account – and ensure coherence of every sentence (subject, verb, and object). Make sure to catch any erroneous corrections automatically made by spellcheck programs. You are required to include full citations (including page numbers) of consulted sources in the appropriate academic fashion (e.g. footnotes in MLA or Chicago Style). Writing is to be scholarly and in Standard English. Observe the following: 3 Provide a clear and compelling title Include a cover page with student name and ID, course number, date, and essay title Use Times New Roman, 11 point font (or similar serif typeface) Make sure the paper is double-spaced with numbered pages. It must be stapled (do not use paper clips, plastic covers, or other forms of binding) Include images: images are not to appear in the text but placed after the written part; refer to images in your text with parentheses and by number, e.g. (Figure 1) Provide complete and correctly cited footnotes (and do not cite class lectures) A lack of images, incorrect or incomplete footnotes or citations, or other obvious mistakes will result in the loss of one mark (i.e. 1 mark out of 50) per violation. Look at both monographs (e.g. on De Stijl) and general histories (e.g. on twentieth-century modernism). Helpful histories include Barry Bergdoll’s European Architecture 1750- 1890 (2000) and Alan Colquhoun’s Modern Architecture (2000). When asked specifically to define terms, use a dictionary along with sources such as Raymond Williams’s Keywords (1985) and Adrian Forty’s Words and Buildings: A Vocabulary of Modern Architecture (2000).

A key database is the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, which offers a comprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture, city planning, and related design disciplines

A note on plagiarism: any instance of plagiarism – e.g. uncited sources, copying other students’ work, submitting papers written for other courses or in previous years, etc. – will be reported to the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) and penalised according to Faculty and University rules.

Topic

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Le Corbusier advanced a vision of architecture that linked the “cell” of the domestic unit to the scape of a new city. On the one hand, he was committed to finding new forms of architectural expression – his influential “Five Points towards a New Architecture” (1926) sought to establish rules that, as he put it, “in no way relate to architectural fantasies or a striving for fashionable profeffects, but concern architectural facts that imply an entirely new kind of building, from the dwelling house to palatial effects.” What, exactly, were these “rules” or “facts”? How did Le Crobusier use the “Five Points” to create new forms of the domestic environment, whether in the private home or in the apartment block? To what degree were the “Five Points” dependent on his important earlier Maison Dom-ino prototype? On the other hand, Le Corbusier was instrumental to defining new – and influential – goals and techniques of city planning that crystallised in the formation of Congrès internationaux d’architecture moderne (CIAM) in 1928. As the architectural historian Kenneth Frampton argues, “Unlike his European contemporaries… Le Corbusier was anxious to develop the urban connotations of his architecture.” How, exactly, did Le Corbusier do this? For example, what kinds of links may be seen between his ideas on housing and unrealised urban plans such as the Plan Voisin and Ville Radieuse? How were the “Five Points” used in both architecture and urbanism? In the absence of realising his prewar urban designs, how did Le Corbusier distill his key ideas – architectural and social – in the Unité d’Habitation of 1952? Frampton notes a change in Le Corbusier’s sense of class relations from the Contemporary City to the Ville Radiuese. Thus, what kinds of social ideals did he project – through specific forms, programmes, or techniques of building – in both his architecture and urbanism? How did these approaches shape the Unité d’Habitation in terms of Le Corbusier’s fascination with nineteenthcentury utopian socialists such as Charles Fourier (or in the formative experience of the Charterhouse of Ema – a monastery – which deeply marked his conception of housing)? Carefully analyse these works (or other projects) to advance your argument.