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History & Theory Seminar
ARC6911--Section 9691
Periods 2-4 (8:30am - 11:30am), Tue
Rm: CBD230
Spring 2017, School of Architecture
Dr. Hui Zou
ARCHITECTURAL AESTHETICS
3 credits
Introduction:
What is architectural beauty, and how can we create beautiful architecture in our historical
age? The question has been haunting architecture from antiquity to the 21st century. Founded
in the early 18th century, philosophical aesthetics was involved in the development and
transformation of modern architecture, evolving from formalist transcendental aesthetics to
critical historical aesthetics. The loss of historicity in modern transcendental aesthetics in
architecture leads to the present aesthetic chaos and the prevalent lacking of theoretical depth
in architectural practice. Retrieving the historical thread of architectural aesthetics, the course
provides a chronological survey of the close interaction between architecture and philosophy
surrounding the issue of “beautiful” in art and architecture throughout historical ages. The
course also draws a comparative perspective between Western and Eastern aesthetic
approaches. By doing so, the course presents the fundamentality of the issue of beautiful in
architectural creation and meanwhile reveals where today’s architecture stands in framing
human dwelling for truth and beauty in a typically technical world. The weekly topics in
sequence are: “Prehistoric Art and Greek Myths,” “Antiquity Architectural Aesthetics,”
“Medieval Aesthetics,” “Renaissance Thought,” “Renaissance Architectural Theories,”
“Eastern Aesthetics,” “18th-Century Division and Crossing,” “19th-Century German
Aesthetics,” “Modern Abstraction Aesthetics,” “Phenomenological Aesthetics,” and “PostModern Critical Aesthetics.” Each weekly topic is composed of multiple most representative
scholarly publications for reading, presentation and discussion. Each student will be assigned
2-3 texts through the semester for detailed reading, analysis and in-class presentations. At the
end of semester, a final paper is required for the student. This graduate seminar course on
architectural aesthetics is suitable for PhD students in architectural history and theory, Master
of Architecture students whose Master Research Projects emphasize the critical historical
approach in design, and other graduate students in art and humanities.
Class Regulations:
Constant preparation, attendance, participation and interest are expected. Your active
participation including in-depth reading and presenting is important for the success of the
entire class. You are expected to be in classroom on time and remain in the classroom
until the completion of each class. The dates of your presentations and the final work
submission are clearly announced, and there is no delay of the submission deadline.
Weekly Topics:
Week 1—(no class)
Week 2 (1/10)—Introduction, presentation assignments
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Week 3—Prehistoric Art and Greek Myths
a) Georges Bataille, Chs. 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, The Cradle of Humanity: Prehistoric Art and
Culture.
b) H. Frankfort, Chs. 1, 8, Before Philosophy.
c) E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational.
d) J-P Vernant, Part 3, Myth and Thought among the Greeks.
e) Aristotle, Poetics.
Week 4—Antiquity-Architectural Aesthetics
a) Vitruvius, Book I: chs. 1, 2, 3; Book II: chs. 1 & 2; Book III: chs. 1, 3, 5; Book IV:
chs. 1, 2, 3; Book V: chs. 4 & 6; Book IX: ch. 1, The Ten Books of Architecture.
b) Joseph Rykwert, On Adam’s House in Paradise.
c) ------, The Idea of a Town.
d) George Hersey, The Lost Meaning of Classical Architecture.
Week 5—Medieval Aesthetics
a) R. Krautheimer, “Introduction to an ‘Iconography of Medieval Architecture,’” in
Studies in Early Christian, Medieval and Renaissance Art, pp. 115-150.
b) W. Braunfels, Monasteries of Western Europe.
c) O. Simson, The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval
Concept of Order.
d) G. Mathew, Chs. 1-3, Byzantine Aesthetics.
e) U. Eco, Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages.
f) J. Ackerman, “Ars sine scientia nihil est’: Gothic Theory of Architecture at the
Cathedral of Milan,” Art Bulletin (June 1949).
Villard de Honnecourt, “Sketchbooks” in F. Bucher, Architector: The Lodge Books and
Sketchbooks of Medieval Architects, v. 1, pp. 177-194.
F. Bucher, “Medieval Architectural Design Methods 800-1560,” Gesta, v. 11, n. 2
(1973): 40.
Week 6—Renaissance Thought
a) A. Koyre, Chs. 1-4, From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe.
b) E. Cassirer, The Individual and the Cosmos in Renaissance Philosophy.
c) P.O. Kristeller, I: 1, 2, 3, Renaissance Concepts of Man.
------, Renaissance Thought: The Classic, Scholastic, and Humanist Strains.
d) F. Yates, The Art of Memory.
e) A. Blunt, Artistic Theory in Italy 1480-1600.
f) W. Tatarkiewicz, History of Aesthetics, v. III: III: pp. 32-111.
Week 7—Renaissance Architectural Theories
a) L.B. Alberti, Books 1, 6, 9 & 10, The Ten Books of the Art of Building, trans. J.
Rykwert.
b) R. Wittkower, Parts I & II, Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism.
c) F. Colonna, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, trans. Joscelyn Godwin.
d) A. Palladio, The Four Books.
e) J. Ackerman, The Architecture of Michelangelo.
f) Alberto Pérez-Gómez & Louise Pelletier, Architectural Representation and the
Perspective Hinge.
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Week 8—Eastern Aesthetics
a) Li Zehou, The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition, trans. Maija Bell Samei.
b) Ji Cheng, Yuan ye. Its English translation, The Craft of Gardens, trans. Alison Hardie.
c) Toshitsuna, Sakuteiki: Visions of the Japanese Garden, trans. Jiro Takei & Marc
Keane.
d) Hui Zou, Chs. 1 & 3, A Jesuit Garden in Beijing and Early Modern Chinese Culture.
e) François Jullien, Detour and Access: Strategies of Meaning in China and Greece,
trans. Sophie Hawkes.
Week 9—18th-Century Division and Crossing
a) G. B. Vico, Book I: sections 2-4; Book II: Prolegomena, sections 1, 2, 7; Book III:
section 2, The New Science.
b) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Reveries of the Solitary Walker.
c) Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime
and Beautiful.
d) I. Kant, Critique of Pure Reason.
e) M-A. Laugier, An Essay on Architecture.
f) N. Le Camus de Mézières, The Genius of Architecture; or, The Analogy of That Art
with Our Sensations.
g) J.W. Ely, The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi.
h) H. Zou, “The Jesuit Theater of Memory in China,” Montreal Architectural Review, v.
2 (December 2015).
Week 10—(Spring break)
Week 11—19th-Century German Aesthetics
a) Hegel, Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics.
b) A. Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation.
c) F. Nietzsche, Basic Writings of Nietzsche.
d) Empathy, Form, and Space: Problems in German Aesthetics, 1873-1893, trans. Harry
F. Mallgrave.
e) Rainer M. Rilke, New Poems (“Poems of Things”), trans. Edward Snow.
Week 12---Modern Abstraction Aesthetics
a) J. Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture.
b) G. Semper, The Four Elements of Architecture.
c) A. Loos, Ornament and Crime.
d) H. Zou, “The Crystal Order That Is Most Concrete: The Wittgenstein House,” Journal
of Aesthetic Education 39.3 (Fall 2005).
e) Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Essays
and Reflections.
f) Dalibor Vesely, Chs. 5, 6, 7, Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation: The
Question of Creativity in the Shadow of Production.
g) Octavio Paz, Marcel Duchamp: Appearance Stripped Bare.
Week 13—Phenomenological Aesthetics
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a) Heidegger, “The Origin of the Work of Art,” Basic Writings.
b) M. Merleau-Ponty, “Cezanne’s Doubt,” The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader.
c) ------, “Eye and Mind,” The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader.
d) Hans-Georg Gadamer, The Relevance of the Beautiful and Other Essays.
e) G. Bachelard, The Poetics of Space.
f) Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Built upon Love: Architectural Longing after Ethics and
Aesthetics.
g) Karsten Harries, The Ethical Function of Architecture.
Week 14—Post-Modern Critical Aesthetics
a) Michel Foucault, This Is Not a Pipe, trans. J. Harkness.
b) J. Derrida, Memoires of the Blind: The Self-Portrait and Other Ruins, trans. PascaleAnne Brault.
c) ------, The Truth in Painting, trans. Geoff Bennington.
d) Jean Baudrillard, “The Beaubourg Effect: Implosion and Deterrence,” Simulacra and
Simulation.
e) Michel de Certeau, Parts II & III, The Practice of Everyday Life, trans. S. Rendall.
f) Gilles Deleuze, Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation, trans. D.W. Smith.
g) Elaine Scarry, On Beauty and Justice.
Week 15—(No class, working on the paper)
Week 16—The paper due by 5 pm, Apr 21, Fri.
Grading:
1) Participation (reading, presentation, discussion and attendance): 50%
2) Paper: 50%
The final grade will be based on the overall qualities of the student’s participation and
project.
You can find the university grading policy at:
http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html
Grading Scale:
Letter
Grade
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
E
Numeric
Grade
95
90
87
83
80
77
73
70
67
63
60
0
Quality
Points
4.0
3.67 3.33
Office Hours:
TBA
Contact:
Office: ARC252
E-mail: [email protected]
3.0
2.67 2.33
2.0
1.67 1.33
1.0
0.67 0.0
5
Phone: (352) 294-1470
Disclaimer: This syllabus represents my current plans and objectives. As we go through the
semester, those plans may need to change to enhance the class learning opportunity. Such
changes, communicated clearly, are not unusual and should be expected.
UF Policies:
University Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities: Students requesting
accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office
(http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/). The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the
student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting
accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking
the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the
office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.
University Policy on Academic Misconduct: Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental
values of the University community. Students should be sure that they understand the UF
Student Honor Code at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/students.php.
Netiquette: Communication Courtesy: All members of the class are expected to follow rules of
common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions and chats. Refer to the university
policy at: http://teach.ufl.edu/docs/NetiquetteGuideforOnlineCourses.pdf Sakai Help: For issues
with technical difficulties for E-learning in Sakai, please contact the UF Help Desk at:
● [email protected]
● (352) 392-HELP - select option 2
● https://lss.at.ufl.edu/help.shtml
Other resources are available at http://www.distance.ufl.edu/getting-help for:
 Counseling and Wellness resources
 Disability resources
 Resources for handling student concerns and complaints
 Library Help Desk support
Should you have any complaints with your experience in this course please visit
http://www.distance.ufl.edu/student-complaints to submit a complaint.