Class Theories of Space I

The unit of Theories of Space I concentrates on the issue of space in modernity, taking into account the affirmation of the metropolitan condition and the constitution of the modern architectural project. The centrality of the concept of space in modernity gathers a plurality of architectural discourses of multiple field of knowledge that cross architecture ans urbanism in the XIX and XX centuries. In this sense, the contamination with the human and social sciences and the artistic investigations allows for an opening of the field of architecture as complex and integrated disciplinary practice. It aims at understanding the architectural phenomenon as a process where space and time contribute to the dynamic construction of concepts in architecture, in close proximity both with the issues of the city and landscape, as with the historical, cultural and social contexts. Finally, it seeks to promote a greater awareness of the architectural design as a cultural and theoretical act.

1. Introduction to the theories of space. Perceived space, represented space and designed space.

2. The philosophical problematic of modernity. The definitions of modernity, modernization and postmodernity.

3. The metropolitan phenomenon and urbanization. The experience of the metropolis and capitalist and industrial affirmation.

4. The metropolitan condition in the historical avant-gardes. The new technical mediums of photography and film.

5. The modern architectural project. The programatic response to the metropolitan condition.

6. The modern urban and architectural models. The affirmation of the new spatial-temporal conception.

7. The modern megastructural habitats. The utopias facing the consumer¿s and generalized communication¿s society.

The classes will be made up mainly by three complementary strands. On the one hand, there will be explanatory theoretical sessions about the thematics in the program, accompanied by audiovisual material. On the other hand, there will accompanied readings of fundamental essays about the theoretical thematics in the program, in order to promote the collective critical debate. Finally, the development of the work by the students will be accompanied throughout the semester, through discussion and supervision. The evaluation of this curricular unit consists of three elements:

1. Individual critical comment on a textual, visual or filmic document, realized in class in the middle of the semester (40%)

2. Individual or group critical essay on a case study, validated by the teacher, presented in class in the end of the semester (50%).

3. Attendance and participation (10%).

- CHOAY, Françoise (coord.) ([1979] 2002), O Urbanismo: Utopias e Realidades. Uma Antologia . São Paulo: Perspectiva. UR/22-BC

- CONRADS, Ulrich (coord.) (1971). Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-Century Architecture . Cambridge-Massachusetts: The MIT Press. AQ/282-BC

- LEACH, Neil (coord.) (1997). Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory . London / New York: Routledge. AQ/192-BC

- RODRIGUES, José Manuel (coord.) (2010). Teoria e Crítica de Arquitectura: Século XX . Lisboa: Ordem dos Arquitectos / Caleidoscópio. AQ/412-BC

- VÁZQUEZ, Carlos García (2016). Teorías e História de la Ciudad Contemporánea: Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.