Technopolitics, culture, intervention

Lectures: 1 session / week, 3 hours / session

Architecture relates to technology in multiple forms, as the organizational basis of society, as production system, as formal inspiration, as mode of temporization, as communicational vehicle, and so on.

Architectural literature is filled with a surfeit of both metaphorical and literal embraces of what architects consider technology: These range from the utopian to the cartoonish, to the faux-philosophical, to the inadvertently religious, often to the seriously deluded. Can architecture's relationship to technology go beyond the semiotic and the metaphorical? To answer this question, this course will consider what one means by the term technology, and then subsequently some of the key ways in which questions of technology have been absorbed into architectural, and more generally, other forms of cultural (art, cinematic, etc.) practice.

4.645 Selected Topics in Architecture: Architecture from 1750 to the Present

Your performance in this class will be evaluated on class presentations, participation, and exams. Your grade will be decided using the following weights:

Students are expected to engage the course material by completing readings, producing at least two presentations (with team members), leading and participating in discussion. Students missing more than 2 classes will be docked a grade; those missing more than 3 classes during the semester will receive a fail. Persistent lateness will also contribute to a lowered grade for participation.

These will be questions structured by the readings and case studies, prompting short essays.

The final will be structured as above. In lieu of the final exam, students receiving grades of A- or above in the previous midterms, and otherwise in good standing with the professors, may write an individual final paper on a topic of their choosing, in consultation with professors and the teaching assistant. Final Exam / Paper–12 double spaced pages.

Don't show me this again

This is one of over 2,200 courses on OCW. Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left.

MIT OpenCourseWare is a free & open publication of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum.

No enrollment or registration. Freely browse and use OCW materials at your own pace. There's no signup, and no start or end dates.

Knowledge is your reward. Use OCW to guide your own life-long learning, or to teach others. We don't offer credit or certification for using OCW.

Made for sharing. Download files for later. Send to friends and colleagues. Modify, remix, and reuse (just remember to cite OCW as the source.)

Learn more at Get Started with MIT OpenCourseWare