The Assignment:
Select ONE of the following topics listed below. Write an essay that uses a clearly defined thesis statement to make an argument (based on one of the two topics listed below) that marshals material from the assigned readings as evidence. You do not need to perform additional research but are more than welcome to if you feel it will help your paper. Just make sure you properly cite any sources.
How to write a thesis statement (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.) (Courtesy of Indiana University Writing Center)
Page Limit: 3-5 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt., Times New Roman font, (900-1400 words)
Paper Prompts:
The Industrial Revolution introduced new materials, technologies, and standardization, bringing about a turn towards modernity. Architects realized, early on, the benefits that industrialization provided both in terms of materiality, as well as efficiency. However, a resistance to the aesthetics of industrialization existed amongst architects and many early buildings tended to mask the new materials and technologies. Discuss why you believe these early architects were hesitant to display the new materials and technologies of industrialization on the exteriors of building, while embracing them on the interiors, and why engineers, especially those who designed bridges and hothouses were not as reluctant to display them.
During the latter half of the 19th century parts of Europe and North America migrated away from the ancient regimes and towards a modern world. Concurrently, architects began to produce a number of theoretical works on architecture. From this moment onward theory and practice were synonymous in architecture, with many practicing architects producing treatises and manifestos on what they believed was the correct/ideal for of architecture and urban design. Many architects strived to bring about social reform and better the lives of the middle to lower class people. Identify 2-3 movements/theories developed by architects and analyze which movements or theories actually brought about a sense of social reform, and which you were solely aesthetic and discuss why certain ones were successful and others failed.
As society moved into the modern world during the 19th and 20th centuries architects felt it was their responsibility to develop a new architectural language that could appropriately accommodate the new world. Many architects felt that in order to achieve this a break from both historical precedence and academics was necessary. Two large movements that came out of this desire to establish a new architectural language for the modern were the Arts and Crafts and the Art Nouveau movement. However, they approached the issue with differing theories, resulting in aesthetically distinct buildings. For this prompt you will need to investigate the two different movements, analyze the visual characteristics of each, the inspiration behind them, and discuss the two different approaches to establish a modern architectural language and which one you believe more accurately captures modernity.
NO RESEARCH IS NECESSARY. I’LL PROVIDE THE READINGS FROM MY CLASS.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|