Storia dell'architettura contemporanea e storia dell'arte contemporanea

The course aims to provide first-year undergraduate students with the basic information and essential tools to understand the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century architecture and its relations with the arts. The course analyzes the main issues through a comprehensive overview alongside specific monographic insights (themes, works, debates, theories, and protagonists). The integration with the Contemporary Art History course is designed to present the most important art movements of the 19th and 20th centuries and to highlight the relationships between the 20th-century artistic avant-gardes and the development of contemporary architectural language.

• Knowledge and understanding – Students will have achieved adequate knowledge and understanding of the History of 19th and 20th-century architecture, mastering the main themes, protagonists, theories, and works.
• Applying knowledge and understanding – Students will have developed their own study method enabling them, based on the acquired knowledge, to independently undertake more specific research in subsequent years, with particular reference to the art-architecture relationship. They will also be able to apply the acquired knowledge to different disciplinary fields.
• Making judgements – Students will have learned to critically read the relationships and connections between the arts and architecture, with reference also to the world of applied arts and design. They will be able to independently formulate critical judgements and comparisons within related fields.
• Communication skills – Students will have learned to use a language that allows them to appropriately present and discuss their knowledge with both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Learning skills – Students will be able to independently plan the next steps of their learning on specific topics by consulting the appropriate bibliography and sources.

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The skills acquired during upper secondary school and the fulfillment of any Additional Educational Obligations (OFA) assigned to the student based on the initial knowledge assessment (entrance test) are sufficient. These obligations must be completed within the first year of the course through the recovery procedures established by the Degree Course.
In detail, the following are sufficient:

- Basic knowledge of the main outlines of nineteenth- and twentieth-century history.

- Basic knowledge of geography.

- Correct use of the Italian language in order to subsequently acquire, during the year, an adequate specialized vocabulary related to the discipline.

- Sufficient ability in reading, analyzing, and understanding texts.

The main topics covered by the course are:

"Modern" and "contemporary", issues of periodization, and brief outlines of historiography.

The architectural culture between the second half of the 18th century and the 19th century, focusing on the crisis of classical culture. Eclecticism and its derivation from 18th-century archaeological research. The 19th-century debate on "national styles". The Industrial Revolution and new materials. The impact of the Industrial Revolution on cities: urban transformations and utopias. The political and social changes of the 19th century.

Between the 19th and 20th centuries: The phenomenon of Art Nouveau and the artistic avant-gardes. The theme of "ornament" (Sullivan, Loos) and that of "structural sincerity" (Viollet-le-Duc, Perret). Moving towards the "Modern Movement". German architecture within the European context of the early 20th century, between utopias and profession.

The American context and Frank Lloyd Wright. The Bauhaus: its foundation, protagonists, developments, and the post-1933 diaspora. De Stijl and Dutch architecture. The generation of the "Masters" between the two World Wars, with profiles of Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Scandinavian context with Erik Gunnar Asplund and Alvar Aalto. Italian architecture between the two World Wars. The reconstruction years in Italy. Alternative paths between tradition and modernity. The generation of the "Masters" in the second post-war period, including a profile of Louis Kahn.

Contemporary architecture: The global dissemination of contemporary architectural language. Key themes and protagonists: the debate from 1970 to 2000. Designing in the present day: specific case studies.

K. Frampton, Modern Architecture: a Critical History, Thames and Hudson, London 1980 (fifth edition London 2020).

W.J.R. Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, Phaidon, Oxdord 1982 (third edition London1996).

The exam consists of an oral interview on the topics covered during the lectures. The first question is always of a general nature, offering the student the opportunity to organize their knowledge. Subsequent questions become progressively more specific in relation to the developing outcome of the exam. Optional in-course tests (prove in itinere) will be offered throughout the year, aimed at making the final exam more manageable.

During the oral examination, the following will be evaluated: relevance of the answers and quality of the content; ability to present correctly using appropriate technical language (taking into account the knowledge expected in the first year of the degree course); ability to independently and critically link the acquired knowledge.

The first general question always corresponds to one of the topics listed in the course program and detailed in the lecture reminders. This initial question serves to assess the student's level of knowledge and their ability to present information appropriately.

Subsequent questions are more specific (related to a single work or theme) and aim to verify the student's ability to critically re-elaborate and connect the knowledge acquired across different topics.

For illustrative purposes only, some sample questions are listed below:

The 19th-century city: transformations and case studies.

Art Nouveau: characteristics, protagonists, and locations.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: formative years and early works.

The Bauhaus: characteristics and protagonists.

Le Corbusier: the theme of housing.

Frank Lloyd Wright: works after the 1930s.

Pier Luigi Nervi and the construction of architecture.

The different uses of reinforced concrete in contemporary architecture.

The different uses of brick in 20th-century architecture.

The metallic structures of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

• Knowledge and understanding – Students will have achieved adequate knowledge and understanding of the History of 19th and 20th-century architecture, mastering the main themes, protagonists, theories, and works.
• Applying knowledge and understanding – Students will have developed their own study method enabling them, based on the acquired knowledge, to independently undertake more specific research in subsequent years, with particular reference to the art-architecture relationship. They will also be able to apply the acquired knowledge to different disciplinary fields.
• Making judgements – Students will have learned to critically read the relationships and connections between the arts and architecture, with reference also to the world of applied arts and design. They will be able to independently formulate critical judgements and comparisons within related fields.
• Communication skills – Students will have learned to use a language that allows them to appropriately present and discuss their knowledge with both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Learning skills – Students will be able to independently plan the next steps of their learning on specific topics by consulting the appropriate bibliography and sources.

The skills acquired during upper secondary school and the fulfillment of any Additional Educational Obligations (OFA) assigned to the student based on the initial knowledge assessment (entrance test) are sufficient. These obligations must be completed within the first year of the course through the recovery procedures established by the Degree Course.
In detail, the following are sufficient:

Basic knowledge of the main outlines of nineteenth- and twentieth-century history.

Basic knowledge of geography.

Correct use of the Italian language in order to subsequently acquire, during the year, an adequate specialized vocabulary related to the discipline.

Sufficient ability in reading, analyzing, and understanding texts.

"The main topics addressed by the module are:
“Modern” and “contemporary”, problems of periodization and outlines of historiography. Research tools: art history textbooks, dictionaries, catalogs, online resources. Artistic culture between the late 18th and 19th centuries: classic and romantic. Realism. Impressionism. Post-Impressionism. The Art Nouveau phenomenon: arts and applied arts. Artistic avant-gardes at the beginning of the 20th century. The birth of abstraction. Expressionism: art and architecture. The Bauhaus between arts and architecture. Le Corbusier and the artists. The art scene after the Second World War in Europe and America. Artistic avant-gardes of the 1960s. Artists and works between 1970 and 2000: case studies. Artists, public and the art market."

The exam consists of an oral interview on the topics covered during the lectures. The first question is always of a general nature, offering the student the opportunity to organize their knowledge. Subsequent questions become progressively more specific in relation to the developing outcome of the exam. Optional in-course tests (prove in itinere) will be offered throughout the year, aimed at making the final exam more manageable.

During the oral examination, the following will be evaluated: relevance of the answers and quality of the content; ability to present correctly using appropriate technical language (taking into account the knowledge expected in the first year of the degree course); ability to independently and critically link the acquired knowledge.

Learning assessment may also be carried out on-line, should the conditions require it. To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures based on educational objectives and specific needs. Students can also contact the CInAP (Centro per l’integrazione Attiva e Partecipata — Servizi per le Disabilità e/o i DSA) referring teacher within their department (https://www.cinap.unict.it/content/referenti).

• Classicism and Romanticism in 19th-century painting.
• Applied arts and architecture in the second half of the 19th century.
• The birth and characteristics of Abstractionism.
• Biographical profile and works of Pablo Picasso.
• The masters of the Bauhaus.
• Biographical profile and works of Piet Mondrian.
• Art in America after World War II.
• Collectors and museums in contemporary art.