ARCHITECTURAL OBJECT, What are the most radical aspects of this object, what are the unique characteristics of these new elements (don’t forget to describe them!), and how do these elements connect to economic and social forces at play at the time of its
Description assignment focuses on the development of knowledge about an architectural OBJECT. When we talk about architectural objects we do not refer only to buildings—architectural objects can be buildings, but they can also be small scale design creations (lamps, chairs, teacups), or city plans, borders, landscapes, or architectural types or gestures that may have contributed something valuable to the history of architecture. Even books, articles, exhibitions and concepts can take on the role of architectrural objects, so long as they have a particular history and existence as material objects in time and space (through publication, documented debates, exhibitions, etc.) must choose an object created after the year 2000 that is excentric and intriguing—one that is in one way or another shocking, innovative, different, peculiar, visibly game-changing or radical–something whose enigmatic form, materials, uses, organization, scale, or relation to context makes it stand out against other objects within the history of architecture. (focus on material objects.) Instructions: After thoroughly investigating the physical emergence and formal elements of your object, you are asked to write a compeling essay on the following question: What are the most radical aspects of this object, what are the unique characteristics of these new elements (don’t forget to describe them!), and how do these elements connect to economic and social forces at play at the time of its emergence? Your essay must highlight the most interesting aspects of your findings by addressing the object in terms of its emergence and its form (plans, elevations, materials, physical characteristics). In organizing your writing, you must use a particular filter or argument that makes a compelling claim about the forces that contributed to its existence. A good essay must spend some time on formal analysis: what are the elements of your object, what makes it unique? What kinds of questions are prompted by its form, materials or siting? For books, articles, exhibitions, concepts: talk about who engaged in conversation/debate about it; which institutions supported its popularization, who dismissed it or harshly criticized it? Your paper must also delve into interesting aspects of its physical emergence, for example: Issues related to its production (unique elements of its authorship, labor forces, materials, technology used); timeline of creation (when and how it was designed/built/written/mounted/published/discussed/made famous; what prompted its creation; how did its context demand or made possible its existence; who funded its creation; how was it received by critics, users, neighbors, competitors?) why or how did it become important to the history of the discipline—when and where can you detect concrete evidence of this importance?
