Essay: Modern Dialectics
From Vitruvius to Koolhaas, architects have approached their reflections on the ethos, style and
practice of their discipline
through debating oppositional ideologies. This unit is based on an exploration of the inherent
dilemmas of modernity,
complex positions on ethical and aesthetic ideas related to the conception and production of
architecture and design.
The main aim of this unit is to track the evolution of some specific themes that have been the subject
of theories,
manifestoes and praxis that have contributed to the definition of the modern and contemporary
architecture. This tracking
requires a process of research and analysis in order to establish common ground and connections,
through ideas and not just
through forms, which would link different periods and practices, hence constructing modern
dialectics.
Your essay will be a sophisticated, illustrated and referenced piece of writing framing a particular
aesthetic or moral tension
in architecture through a discussion of between two and four specific case studies, as built or unbuilt
architectural projects.
You will select projects from your own personal research as well as the references shown during
lectures, in your readings and
as discussed in your tutorials. In your essay, your discussion of these projects will be supplemented
with images chosen to
expand and support your arguments, and with reference to theoretical texts and critical opinions,
from historical texts and
contemporary sources (both images and quotations to be properly referenced!)
The student work in this unit consists in the development of modern dialectics in the twentieth
century. The final essay (approx. 15001800 words) should be
based on a reflection around the tension between two positions found in research – a dialectical
tension found in twentieth
century architectural production, as demonstrated within the lectures and discussions: Ornamentation
vs. Functionality
Each thematic position suggested has been shaped on apparent differences around important themes
that have directed architectural debates in the 20th century. They are not specific to certain time
periods; the opposing ideas cut across thenwhole of the twentieth century, and may be found at any
point – and they sometimes share as well as differ.
Rather than exploring the whole theme, your essay will choose and discuss particular buildings, the
methods and ideas of
particular architects, the writings of particular critics and theorists, and your own skills of framing the
varied positions, to make a SPECIFIC comment on one of these tensions, using SPECIFIC case studies
and critical points of view. The idea is to make your argument through the ideas shared by specific
buildings, practices, architects or positions – rather than
describing a chapter of history.
You will be required to use, to a sufficient degree of sophistication for academic students:
− theoretical sources to discuss the ideological positions
− historical sources in order to construct narrative contexts
− visual sources to direct and evidence your arguments
You can benefit from any of the readings and examples shown to you during the lecture series, be
conducting your own
research for your postcards, or precedent studies found in your design studio and technical work.
You are advised, more than
ever, to keep your research and reading to high quality academic sources: JSTOR, not Wikipedia &
real journals, not Dezeen!
Essay structure
1500–1800 words essay composed by the following parts (word counts are only suggested and NOT
necessarily in this
order!)
• Title: Try and pick a title that describes your particular investigation, not just the general
theme/opposition.
• Introduction (around 200 words): Setting up the foundation of your argument, what the essay
intends to discuss.
Try to state opinions based on research, rather than personal preference.
• Thesis (around 600 words): This is where you would build your argument, showing through a
variety of architectural case studies how a particular theme has been explored through the modern
era of the twentieth century. Which buildings and architects show particular innovation in this field?
Where did this come from in architectural history, how did the situation come to be? What are your
chosen case studies going to be? Who are the critics who discussed these ideas? What did that mean
in the cultural context where it has occurred? What
architectural evidences show traces of this thinking?
• Antithesis (around 400 words): This is when you might discuss opposite points of view, showing
conflict or variety in architectural thinking and production. Why did these oppositional movements
arise, and where? Which are the
key buildings which show this opposite or different position? What points of view were being
expressed here? Who were the active proponents of these other movements?
• Synthesis & Reflective conclusion (around 300 words): Sum up the reflections you have made by
looking at the architectural movements that you have discussed, and their continued influences.
Consider how common themes have emerged in different ways across your examples.
• Bibliography (please note, this is in addition to the Harvard Style references that you must include
in the main text of your essay.
