Diagrammatic Analysis: Criticality after the Index

While formal analysis is sufficient to understand the genesis of historical buildings up until the French Revolution, that approach is no longer sufficient to understand the complexity of contemporary work, which, despite formal moments, introduces new relationships. This seminar is intended to explore analytic methods that provide an understanding of the complexities of current architectural production. The seminar begins with discussions of new material practices and relationships to the production of form. Students are required to make a presentation, whether it be drawings, writing, or animation, of a diagrammatic analysis of a recent building, such as the Seattle Public Library by Koolhaas, his Porto Concert Hall, Herzog and de Meuron’s de Young Museum, Zaha Hadid’s Rome Market project, or Zaera Polo’s Yokohama Harbor Project. Limited enrollment.