11213 Introduction to Theory and Architecture

This subject seeks to establish a basic, foundational introduction to some key historical and theoretical conceptions of architecture, as idea, technique, and place, and to introduce the importance of sensory perception in both the design and experience of architectural space. The subject is designed to synthesise and combine an introductory level of architectural history, theory and design, and dissolve traditional boundaries between theory and practice by locating architectural concepts in the actual experience of the built environment of Sydney and its surrounds. In terms of content, the subject covers the following topics: historical definitions of architecture; introduction to conceptions of architecture as space, place and ordering of experience; formalist understandings of the architectural object; architecture as an artform/architecture as a science; ideas of dwelling, inhabitation, poetics of place; architecture without architects – vernacular traditions throughout the world; cross-cultural approaches to architecture.

Typical availability

Autumn semester, City campus