Assignment
Answer all five questions below in roughly 300 words per question.
Please use the three readings, respectively, to cite and support your arguments. MLA format with citations.
1. What is the role of architectural history in Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction? What does it mean to develop a "historical sense" according to Venturi's reading of T.S. Eliot?
2. In your own words, what is architectural theory? How does it play a role in the work of the architect? What is the main difference between history and theory?
3. In Colin Rowe's essay, "The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa," how does he argue for the comparison between Palladio and Le Corbusier? What is to be gained by this comparison? What is his critique of modernism at this time? What does the title of the essay mean, in your opinion?
4. According to Alberti, "the city is like a large house, and the house in turn is like a small city." What does this mean for Aldo Rossi and his book Architecture of the City?
5. We have been studying architects who write books and essays. Can theory exist in other forms as well?
Text Book: The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays by Colin Rowe.
Articles:
1. Aldo Rossi: The Idea of Architecture and the Modena Cemetery by Rafael Moneo, Translated by Angela Giral.
2. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture by Rober Venturi