YEARBOOK 2018 - 2019 | XJTLU DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

119
120
ARC308
Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics
2018-2019 YEARBOOK Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Department of Architecture 西 交 利 物 浦 大 学 建 筑 系
Stills from the ARC308 ‘essay film’ entitled ‘I like Red’ by Yang Di,
Mingxun Ma, Danyang Wu.
Stills from the ARC308 ‘essay film’ entitled ‘Rethinking
Village: From Aesthetics to Philosophy’ by Fanyun Chen, Dan
Xinrui, Natasha Christy.
Level 3
( Year 4 | Semester 2 )
Module Credits
5
Module Leader
Igea Troiani
Teaching Team
Igea Troiani
Tordis Berstrand
Adam Brillhart
Jiawen Han
Patrick Hubbuck (EAP)
Guest Workshop
Jade He
Number of Students
74
This architectural theory module acquaints students with key aesthetic
concepts in art and design practice from different periods up to the
present. Through an ambitious series of lectures, it introduces students
to diverse discourses on aesthetics from thinkers and practitioners from
the East and the West that has influenced and that continue to influence
fine arts and architecture to develop their aesthetic judgement. Students
study how philosophy, art and architecture mutually influence each
other and demonstrate their understanding of various aesthetic concepts
in the making of a group ‘essay film’ and an individually written essay.
The ‘essay film’ coursework made in this module, and tied to the Final
Year Project studio work, is new and builds upon the module leader’s
research. The ‘essay film’ considers film to be a form of theoretical
architectural writing that incorporates audio, visual, spatial and
corporeal experience. It allows an open cultural exchange that can blend
and include many different voices and races to decolonize the formerly
Western tradition of essay writing.
Many student groups incorporated video footage from the field trip
into their ‘essay film’. The field trip took ARC308 students and staff to
Shanghai to visit Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition at the Fosun Foundation;
‘Proregress’ – the 12th Shanghai Biennale at the Power Station of Art;
Filipe Pantone’s ‘Distance, Vitesse, Temps, Formule’ at the Magda Danyzs
Gallery; and the 1933 Shanghai Slaughterhouse.
Students are supported in ARC308 by seminar discussions and
workshops that enhance their independent library research skills, note
taking, filmmaking (scripting and editing) practice, essay writing and
graphic design communication. As a consequence, students produced an
impressively high quality of work in this module in 2019 that showed
their critical engagement with the philosophies of art and aesthetics.
Level 03 – Year 4
B Eng Architecture Programme