Contemporary Architecture

Syllabus

1. Defining Modern and Contemporary Architecture (2 hours)
   1. Modern and contemporary architecture
   2. Architecture as evolving practice: global discourses and local responses
   3. Spectacle and substance; iconic and contextual approaches
   4. Contemporary Nepal: influence and stereotypes
2. Early Modern Roots (Pre-1920 Foundations) (5 hours)
   1. Industrial revolution: new building types (factories, exhibitions)
   2. Arts and crafts, art nouveau (Morris, Gaudi, Mackintosh, Loos)
   3. Chicago school pioneers (Burnham and Root, Jenney, Sullivan, Wright)
3. High Modernism (1920 to 1970) (12 hours)
   1. Werkbund and Bauhaus: Behrens, Gropius, Mies van der Rohe
   2. International style and interwar planning (CIAM, Weissenhof)
   3. Masters: Le Corbusier, Wright, Aalto, Kahn
   4. Post-WWII modernism: brutalism, metabolism, De Stijl legacy
   5. Early modernism in Nepal (1950s to 1970s): civic and institutional buildings
4. Postmodernism and Pluralism (1970 to 1990) (8 hours)
   1. Crisis of modernism and crisis of meaning
   2. Postmodernism: Venturi, Rossi, Graves, Johnson, Stirling
   3. Neo-rationalism, neo-functionalism
   4. Pluralism and early Nepali encounters with global idioms
5. Deconstructivism, High-Tech and Globalization (1990 to 2010) (8 hours)
   1. Deconstructivism: Eisenman, Hadid, Tschumi, Gehry, Koolhaas, Libeskind
   2. High-Tech: Foster, Rogers, Piano, Grimshaw
   3. Globalization: star-architecture versus context-driven practice
   4. Nepali architecture engaging with global discourse
6. Contemporary Practice (2010 to Present) (4 hours)
   1. Diversity: regionalism, identity, participatory and community design
   2. Ecology and sustainability: green building, biophilic design, passive strategies
   3. Technology: parametric design, smart materials, digital fabrication
   4. Global examples with Nepali case comparisons
7. Contemporary Architecture of Nepal (Past to Present) (6 hours)
   1. Trajectory from early modern influences to contemporary diversity
   2. Kathmandu Valley and beyond: civic, cultural, public projects
   3. Post-2015 earthquake reconstruction: heritage-sensitive practices
   4. Current tendencies: climate responsiveness, material craft, community engagement

Practicals

Fifteen hours: seminar discussion on what makes architecture contemporary with global versus Nepali perspectives, comparative analysis of early modern and high modern works with Nepali parallels, and a field or virtual study of a recent Nepali public building with group presentation and seminar on post-earthquake reconstruction.