Words and Modern Architecture

From its emergence against the backdrop of the industrial revolution and European imperialism, architectural modernism has been shaped by a distinct vocabulary. This course interrogates how architects and critics have used critical terms to define modern architecture in theory and practice. We will investigate the role of six of these words in the formation of architectural modernism: nature, material, structure, detail, program, space. Concentrating on the circulation of these terms in the Anglican world, we will consider their introduction from colonial encounter and French and German discourse. We will also investigate how these defining concepts are linked to mass media.