Introduction to Modern Architecture: Modernity and Its Other

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course invites students to reflect on the idea of modernity in architecture as it developed from the 15th century to the late 20th century. Its aims are twofold: first, to introduce students to selected architectural episodes across time and space; second, to demonstrate that modernity is a concept deeply charged with power dynamics. Historically, the idea of modernity has defined its margins by systematically portraying certain people, cultures, and places as deficient in the modern mind, techniques, or aesthetics. In this respect, modernity and its antonyms are inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. Over the quarter, we will examine exclusionary visions of modernity, challenge their claims to universality, and amplify the voices of those who proposed alternative models for modernity in architecture.