Architectural Theories: Texts

larcb1333  2025-2026  Bruxelles Saint-Gilles

Architectural Theories: Texts
5.00 credits
50.0 h
Q1
> Schedule

  This learning unit is not being organized during year 2025-2026.

Teacher(s)
Claeys Damien;
Language
French
Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

  • Understand major texts in architectural theory and apply their concepts appropriately,
  • Date and contextualize the production and reception of the texts discussed,
  • Compare texts with one another and with architectural projects influenced by them,
  • Draw insights from historical texts to enhance understanding of contemporary issues,
  • Develop a personal critical perspective by synthesizing the methodological and epistemological approaches proposed by the authors of the studied texts.

General Learning Outcomes

In line with the program’s learning outcomes (LOs), this course contributes to the development and acquisition of the following LOs:
  • LO1.1 Identify the parameters and issues of a given situation.
  • LO1.2 State the intentions and choices of an architectural project at different intervention scales.
  • LO2.1 Acquire and proficiently apply the conventions of representation in two and three dimensions.
  • LO3.1 Acquire and explain the physical and physiological principles related to architecture.
  • LO3.2 Acquire and explain the construction and technical processes related to architecture.
  • LO3.4 Acquire and explain the environmental, social, and economic consequences of construction and technical choices.
  • LO4.1 Learn and explain the concepts and methods of scientific disciplines.
  • LO4.4 Learn and explain the environmental, social, and economic consequences of architectural choices.
  • LO6.1 Acquire knowledge of disciplinary methods in scientific research.
  • LO6.2 Adopt a critical attitude free from any preconceptions.
 
Content
  • Introduction
  • Prehistory: The Origins of Art
  • Antiquity: 1. Order and Continuity. 2. Hellenistic Culture and Self-Knowledge. 2/3. The Hellenistic Culture of Wonder. 3. Latin Culture and Monumental Pragmatism
  • Middle Ages (5th–15th centuries): 1. The Static Vision of a Closed World. 2. The Spiritualization of Architecture
  • Renaissance (14th–16th centuries): 1. Neoplatonism, Naturalism, and Vitalism. 2. The Invention of Perspective. 3. The Papacy and Mannerism. 4. The Fall of the Giants and the Theatrum Mundi
  • Age of Reason (17th century): 1. Reformation and Baroque Unreason. 2. The Birth of Modern Science
  • Enlightenment (18th century): 1. Between Historicism and Rationalism. 2. Revivals and the Rise of Engineers
  • Age of Progress (19th century): 1. Evolutionism, Industry, and Eclecticism. 2. Zeitgeist, the Avant-Garde, and the Idea of Movement
  • Modernism (20th century): 1. The Mechanization of Architecture. 2. The Barcelona Pavilion. 3. Mechanization, the Machine for Living, and First-Order Cybernetics
  • Postmodernism (20th century): 1. The Architecture of the Fun Palace. 2. From Tree to Network: Ecology and Second-Order Cybernetics. 3. Hybridization and Digitalization
  • Our Century (21st century): 1. The Digitalization of Architecture. 2. Autopoiesis and Sustainability
Teaching methods
Lectures of 4 hours, each week.
Evaluation methods
A written exam including:
  1. multiple-choice questions: general assessment of passive knowledge acquisition
  2. matching questions: assessing the ability to link building plans, texts, references, periods and sites
  3. an open-ended question: assessment of active understanding of knowledge
Online resources
All course materials are available on Moodle
Bibliography
  • Alberti, L.B., L’art d’édifier, Caye, P. & Choay, F. (trad.), Paris : Seuil, 2004.
  • Belting, H., Florence et Bagdad. Une histoire du regard entre Orient et Occident, Ghermani, N. & Rieber, A. (trad.), Paris : Gallimard, 2012.
  • Callebat, L. (dir.), Histoire de l’architecte, Paris : Flammarion, 1998.
  • Castex, J., Renaissance, baroque et classicisme : histoire de l’architecture 1420-1720, Paris : La Villette, 2004.
  • Conrads, U., Programmes et manifestes de l’architecture du xxe siècle, Paris : La Villette, 1996.
  • Davies, C., Thinking about Architecture. An Introduction to Architectural Theory, London : Laurence King Publishing, 2011.
  • Denès, M., Forms follows fiction. Écrits d’architecture fin de siècle, Paris : La Villette, 1996.
  • Evers, B. (dir.), Théorie de l’architecture. De la Renaissance à nos jours, Taschen, 2006.
  • Filarète, Trattato dell architettura, Florence, 1465.
  • Hopkins, O., Les styles en architecture. Guide visuel, Clauzier, J.-L. & Coutrot, L. (trad.), Paris : Dunod, 2014.
  • Johnson, P.-A., The Theory of Architecture. Concepts Themes & Practices, New York, NY : John Wiley & Sons, 1994.
  • L’Orme, P. (de), Premier tome de l’Architecture, Paris : Frédéric Morel, 1567.
  • Mallgrave, H.F., The Architect’s Brain: Neuroscience, Creativity, and Architecture, Chichester, UK : Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
  • Mallgrave, H.F., Architectural Theory. Volume I: An Anthology from Vitruvius to 1870, Malden, MA : Blackwell, 2006.
  • Mallgrave, H.F., Architectural Theory. Volume II: An Anthology from 1871 to 2005, Malden, MA : Blackwell, 2006.
  • Mallgrave, H.F. & Goodman, D.J., An Introduction to Architectural Theory: 1968 to the Present, Malden, MA : Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
  • Menges, A. & Ahlquist, S. (dir.), Computational Design Thinking, Chichester : Wiley, 2011.
  • Norberg-Schulz, C., La signification dans l’architecture occidentale, Mardaga, P. (trad.), Bruxelles : Mardaga, 1977.
  • Nuttgens, P., Histoire de l’architecture, Voline, M. (trad.), Paris : Phaidon, 2002.
  • Oxman, R.E. & Oxman, R.M. (dir.), Theories of the Digital in Architecture, London ; New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014.
  • Palladio, A., I quattro libri dell’architettura, Venise : D. De Franceschi, 1570.
  • Smith, K. (dir.), Introducing Architectural Theory. Debating a Discipline, New York, NY : Routledge, 2012.
  • Summerson, J., Le langage classique de l’architecture, Bonne, B. & Bonne, J.-C. (trad.), Paris : Thames & Hudson, 1991.
  • Vitruve, De architectura, Cesariano, C. (trad.), Côme : Gottardo Da Ponte, 1521.
  • Vitruve, Les dix livres d’architecture, Perrault, C. (trad.), Paris : Jean Baptiste Coignard, 1684.
  • Vitruve, De l’architecture [De architectura], Gros, P. (trad.), Paris : Belles Lettres, 2015.
Faculty or entity
> LOCI


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Bachelor in Architecture (Bruxelles)
ARCB1BA
5