Design Across Scales and Disciplines
Inspired by Charles and Ray Eames' canonical Powers of Ten, explores the relationship between science and engineering through the lens of design. Examines how transformations in science and technology have influenced design thinking and vice versa. Provides interdisciplinary skills and methods to represent, model, design and fabricate objects, machines, and systems using new computational and fabrication tools. Aims to develop methodologies for design research of interdisciplinary problems. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.
Spring 2014 · Introduction to Architecture & Environmental Design
This course provides a foundation to the design of the environment from the scale of the object, to the building to the larger territory. The design disciplines of architecture as well as urbanism and landscape are examined in context of the larger influence of the arts and sciences. Students are expected to develop skills in thinking and analysis, spatial representation, and design methodologies. Through lectures and design exercises, students are provided an opportunity to establish a reference for understanding the discipline of architecture and environmental design, and are given an introduction to design fundamentals and the design process.
Readings
- Morrison, P. & P., C. & R. Eames. Selection from Powers of Ten: a Book about the Relative Size of Thingsin the Universe and the Effect of Adding another Zero . W. H. Freeman & Company/Scientific American Books, 1982.
- Kieran, S., and J. Timberlake. “Argument.” In Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies are Poised to Transform Building Construction . McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003, pp. x–xiii. ISBN: 9780071433211.
- Neuhart, J., M. Neuhart, and R. Eames. Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames . Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn Verlag fur Architektur und technische Wissenschaften, 1989. ISBN: 9783433022962.
- Bauhaus: The Face of the 20 th Century. Directed by Frank Whitford. Black and White/ color, 55 min. DVD. 1994. Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2004.
- The Films of Charles and Ray Eames . Directed by Charles and Ray Eames. 1972. Image Entertainment, 2005.
- Cook, P. “An Archigram Legacy (1986).” In Peter Cook: Six Conversations . Academy ed. St Martins Press, 1993, pp. 123–25.ISBN: 9781854901569.
- Foster, S. N. “Richard Buckminster Fuller.” In Buckminster Fuller. Anthology of the New Millennium . Edited by Thomas T. K. Zung. St. Martin’s Press, 2001, pp. 1–8. ISBN: 9780312266394.
- Crompton, D. A. Guide to Archigram 1961-1974 . Academy ed. Ernst & Sohn, 1974. ISBN: 9781854903761.
- Cook, P. The City Seen as a Garden of Ideas . Monacelli Press, 2004. ISBN: 9781580931083.
- Wigley, M. Constant’s New Babylon: the Hyper-Architecture of Desire . 010 Uitgeverij, 1999. ISBN: 9789064503436.
- Le Corbusier. “Regulating Lines.” In Towards a New Architecture . Dover Publications, 1985, pp. 65–83. ISBN: 9780486250236.
- ———. “Mass Production Houses.” In Towards a New Architecture . Dover Publications, 1985, pp. 225–65. ISBN: 9780486250236.
- Anker, P. Excerpts in From Bauhaus to Eco-House: A History of Ecological Design . Louisiana State University Press, 2010, pp. 1–35. ISBN: 9780807135518.
- Busquets, J., ed. “Synthetic Gestures: Key Buildings with Urban Synergies.” In Cities X Lines: A New Lens for the Urban Project . Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2006, pp. 19–49. ISBN: 9788884472946.
- Koolhaas, R., B. Mau, and H. Werlemann. “Bignessor the Problem of Large.” In S, M, L, XL . Monacelli Press, 1998, pp. 494–516. ISBN: 9781885254863.
- Busquets, J. “Defining the Urbanistic Project: Ten Contemporary Approaches.” In Urban Design . Edited by Alex Krieger and William S. Saunders. University of Minnesota Press, 2009, pp. 131–35. ISBN: 9780816656394.
- Solà-Morales, M. Manuel de Solà-Morales: A Matter of Things . NAi Publishers, 2008. ISBN: 9789056625207.
- Busquets, J., ed. Cities X Lines: A New Lens for the Urban Project . Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2006. ISBN: 9788884472946.
- Smets, M. The Landscape of Contemporary Infrastructure . NAi Publishers, 2010. ISBN: 789056627201.
- Guest Lecturer: Anne Whiston Spirn
- Spirn, A. W. The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design . Basic Books, 1985. ISBN: 9780465026982.
- ———. The Language of Landscape. Yale University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780300077452.
- Jacobs, J. The Death and Life of Great American Cities . Vintage Books, 1992. ISBN: 9780679741954.
- Mostafavi, M., and G. Doherty. Ecological Urbanism . Lars Muller Publishers, 2010. ISBN: 9783037781890.
- Banham, R. Megastructure: Urban Futures of the Recent Past . Thames and Hudson, 1976. ISBN: 9780064303712.
- Lang, P., and W. Menking. Superstudio: Life Without Objects . Skira, 2003. ISBN: 9788884915696.
- Friedman, Y. Excerpts from Yona Friedman/Pro Domo . ACTAR, 2006. ISBN: 9788496540514.
- Guest Lecturer: Dan Adams
- Berger, A. “Lecture by Alan Berger.” In Systemic Design can Change the World. Sun Architecture, 2009, pp. 11–25. ISBN: 9789085068761.
- Pauli, L. Manufactured Landscapes: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky . Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780300099430.
- Berger, A. Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America . Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.
- Ghosn, R., ed. New Geographies, 2: Landscapes of Energy . Harvard University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9781934510254.
- Panker, P. “Buckminster Fuller as Captain of Spaceship Earth.” In Bauhaus to Eco-House: A History of Ecological Design . Louisiana State University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780807135518.
- Doxiadis, C. A. “Man’s Movement and His Settlements.” In Constantinos A. Doxiadis: Texts, Design Drawings, Settlements . Edited by Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis. Ikaros, 2006, pp. 90–141. ISBN: 9789608399365.
Prerequisites & course information
Subject meets with 4.110 Prereq: None G (Spring) 2-2-8 units
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2014
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.