Architecture

This course studies several periods of French architecture. The first part of the course covers Antiquity: classic architecture, origins in Greek civilization, Roman technique, and religious and utility buildings. The second part covers the Middle Ages: feudal society, Christianity, Roman & Gothic architecture, churches and cathedrals, and fortified castles. The third part examines modern times: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, the invention of printing, the discovery of America, Protestant reform, the Renaissance, and Baroque architecture. Finally, the course covers contemporary times: neoclassicism, aesthetics, eclecticism, the Industrial Revolution, mass production, functionalism, post-war urban expansion, social housing, and Brutalism.

The course provides an introduction to traditional wooden architecture in Taiwan. Topics include basic structure terms; source, type, development, forms, and construction process; roof, body, and walls; and bucket and beam-lift structures. The course includes visits to five types of traditional wooden buildings in Taiwan.

The course focuses on selected theories, discourses, and concepts for urban design. It encompasses visions and plans for the morphology of cities, the interplay with social and ecological sustainability, and ideas about the ideal city and good urban life from the 19th century through today. The course concentrates on three main themes of contemporary urban development: pre-modern to post-modern urban design, place making and the role of public space, and sustainable urban development and urban nature. It discusses central paradigms and various approaches to city design and re-design. The contemporary city is used to illustrate how urban design concepts and models have been operationalized and have influenced practice.