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Course Objective
Houses exist in the context of city and culture, providing the stage on
which the most important and personal daily activities are played out and,
at the same time, a medium for defining and representing the self and
society. In this course we will examine the relationships between house
form, society, memory, behavior and consider the ways in which design
actions and preferences in housing is modified by culture. In this spirit,
we will look at houses as both functional, cultural and symbolic objects
and will spend considerable time looking at the rituals by which people
inhabit their homes. We will focus on the following themes:
- House form and the cognitive process (memory & learning): house as a frame of human experience.
- Housing through the life span: house form and children, families and older people.
- Social history of Housing: development of housing in terms of density, income-group & construction.
- Siting, society and neighboring.
- House form and culture.
- Emerging Trends and Typologies in Housing:
Changes in life style & rehabilitation of older buildings.
Course Requirements
Assignments: The projects in this course include three short papers and a presentation. Each paper should be about three to six single-spaced typewritten pages (use illustrations wherever necessary). If the papers are turned in on time, you have the option of rewriting your first two papers and turning them in on or before the last day of class. Provide your original paper and your rewrite together.
The assignments:
- Describe and analyze your childhood home. (If
you moved frequently or there was some personal turmoil in your
childhood, pick somewhere of personal meaning for you, such as a
grandparents house. Also, of course, "home" can mean apartment, army
base, etc.). Provide as good a formal and physical description as you
can and consider how your home was linked to the city or community.
Discuss the roles your family members took, your family activities and
how they were played out in the home: who used what spaces for what
purposes on a daily basis or special occasions, what conflicts occurred,
what messages were communicated in the various spaces and features. In
this assignment, try and ask the "tough" questions, like: Why did you
choose this place to describe if there were several options? Why did
your family choose that house or apartment? Why was it used the way it
was? Provide annotated sketches, plans, or pictures, with appropriate
captions. If you need guidelines for providing illustrations and
annotations, you can refer to the Terrabian's Handbook for Theses and
Dissertations for guidelines . Also, be prepared to make a five to ten
minute class presentation of this assignment. (For the class
presentation, focus on one or two interesting points and develop them in
detail.) Because of the class size this year, we will pin up all of
homes in the classroom and ask a subset of people to present and
identify predominant themes.
- Pick one of the books from the list below and
write a critical review of it. Identify and analyze the key ideas that
are in the book, provide a thoughtful reaction to them, and tie them
into the ongoing arguments in the class and in architecture more
generally. Being "critical" does not mean stating whether the book is
good or bad; rather, you are expected to develop a viewpoint and present
it. Please note that it is not enough, or even very helpful, simply to
summarize the book. Use the review as a vehicle for discussing the
issues we are developing in this seminar: the book's relationship to
society, function, memory, family, etc. I encourage you go beyond the
specific book and look at some of the other work by that author or at
some of the other works in that subject area. If you feel convinced
about another book regarding housing talk to me about it first. If we
have time, towards the end of the quarter, we will discuss your critical
reviews in class, as well.
Books for review. These books are available in the Tech library, at other libraries in town, and some are also available at local bookstores.
- Alexander: A Pattern Language
- Bachelard: The Poetics of Space
- Gans: The Levittowners
- Girouard: Life in the English Country House.
- Hayden: The Grand Domestic Revolution
- Mandler: Scripts, Schemas and Stories
- Rapoport: House Form and Culture
- Choose a specific application in house or
housing design, such as congregate housing for the elderly,
single-room-occupancy hotels for the homeless, or townhouse condominium
developments, rehabilitated older buildings, housing for a specific
income group or density, and critique current trends from the basis of
history, theory, current research and good practice. There are two parts
to this project: a) a discussion of trends in the building type; b) an
annotated analysis of one or two actual examples in Atlanta or the
literature. You should critique the examples from the perspective of
your review of the building type and of the class discussion. Be
prepared to make a 10 minute class presentation. Site visits and final
presentations can be done as groups, but the written report must be
individual.
Readings:
The Course Reader will be available in Georgia Tech Book Store. It is important to remember that the purpose of the included texts is to enhance your understanding of the subject. The lectures are meant to go beyond these required readings and the students are expected to come prepared for the specific topic of discussion in each class.
Course Grading:
This course will be run as a seminar, and to be successful requires
consistent preparation and participation. The approximate distribution of
the three projects towards the final grade will be as follows:
Project 1 (childhood home) -- 20%
Project 2 (critical review) --
25%
Project 3a (housing application paper) --20%
Project 3b (housing
application presentation) -- 10%
Readings and Participation --25%.
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