This site is designed to serve the students of Art 339, Twentieth Century Architecture, a course given by Professor Nancy Stieber at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. The course surveys developments in architectural theory and practice between 1890 and the present, primarily in Europe and the United States.
There is less agreement than ever about the achievements of architects during the previous century. While no one disputes that the great modernizers of architecture, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright, originated a new period of architectural design, as the modernism they invented has been reevalutated and found wanting, their position as cultural heroes has been placed under a cloud of doubt. In this course we will examine the rise of modernism and examine the record critically. What were the stated intentions of the modernists? What distinctions can we make among their various aims? How justified are thecriticisms levied against modernisn in the last twenty years? And what do the alternatives being pursued today have to offer? You will have the opportunity to become familiar with the history of the contemporary controversies in architecture and to develop your own critical position.
Art 339 is being taught in the Fall semester of 2011.