YEARBOOK 2015 - 2016 | XJTLU DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

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ARC407
Architectural Theory and Criticism
2015-2016 YEARBOOK Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Department of Architecture 西 交 利 物 浦 大 学 建 筑 系
The London Sky Framed by Yona Friedman -
Hyde Park, 2016.
Photograph by Tordis Berstrand.
Level 4
( Year 1 | Semester 1 )
Module Credits
5
Module Leader
Andrew Johnson
Number of Students
9
The module introduces central themes in architectural theory and
criticism informed by current debates within and beyond the discipline.
Framed as challenges confronting contemporary society on a
global scale, these are issues of the present that call upon architects
to respond and act. If this is not simply a call to build and make, it is
an invitation to think, again, about the critical potential of built and
imagined environments.
With an eye to the global and Asian context of XJTLU, the module pursues
the intersection of architectural thinking and practice as a space
where students come to critically examine their own work. They do so
for the purpose of positioning themselves as future practitioners and to
deepen their appreciation of theory and writing as active tools in the
design process. Above all, they strengthen their ability to articulate a
theoretical argument in a consistent manner as an integral part of the
architect’s task.
Students reflect on a series of reading assignments in weekly coursework
submitted for grading and eventually marking in revised form. In-class
discussions, exercises, and presentations build up the skills required for
the final essay submission, a draft of which is graded halfway through the
semester. Academic standards are observed across all submitted work,
and language teachers from the university’s Writing Centre contribute
with lectures and tutorials throughout. A final Folio submission eventually
concludes the module by compiling all material produced as a statement
of the individual student’s achievement and learning.
Level 04 – Year 1
M Arch Des Programme