Histories and Politcs of Architecture

larcb2231  2025-2026  Bruxelles Saint-Gilles

Histories and Politcs of Architecture
5.00 credits
40.0 h + 15.0 h
Q1
> Schedule
Teacher(s)
Lampariello Beatrice; Ledent Gérald;
Language
French
Main themes
This course examines the history of architecture and cities through their political dimensions. It explores both real and utopian projects as reflections of the issues and challenges faced by contemporary society.
Learning outcomes

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

  • Grasp the political significance inherent in every architectural act,
  • Analyze architectural works as expressions of ideologies and power structures,
  • Critically examine the concept of utopias, identifying the dissatisfactions and challenges that give rise to alternative perspectives,
  • Engage with inhabited realities by applying contextual approaches to a chosen topical theme, including recognizing, observing, analyzing, and critically evaluating complex places and contexts.

General Learning Outcomes

In line with the program’s learning outcomes (LOs), this course contributes to the development and acquisition of the following LOs:
  • LO1.2 Justify the intentions and choices of an architectural project at different intervention scales.
  • LO4.1 Understand and mobilise the concepts and methods of scientific disciplines.
  • LO4.3 Understand and integrate the content of other artistic or scientific disciplines to enrich the architectural project.
  • LO4.4 Understand and assess the environmental, social, and economic consequences of architectural choices.
  • LO5.4 Advocate for and act in favor of exemplary architecture in light of Sustainable Development requirements.
  • LO6.1 Acquire and rigorously apply disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary methods of scientific research.
 
 
Content
Architecture is political. It is political because it carries within it a vision of the world. It is political because it influences social relations. From these angles, the course will examine our contemporary condition, marked by a permanent state of crises (ecological, economic, existential, social, etc.). Its aim is to look at the past and recent present to explore:
  • How architects have taken a stance in the face of crises, either through visionary projects (built or unbuilt), or through grounded, practical, and realistic approaches.
  • How architecture, in the broad sense (from furniture to housing to territory), is never neutral but conveys a political view and shapes social relations.
The course spans the centuries, from the modern era to today, and explores the following questions:
  • Utopias and spatial determinism,
  • The relationship between capitalism and social housing,
  • Surveillance through space,
  • The modernist dream of democratizing space,
  • Alternative narratives of the city,
  • Radical habitats,
  • Alternative materials for new ways of life.
Teaching methods
Each class will alternate between lectures (ex cathedra) and discussions with the students. Visits, film screenings, or text readings, organized at the beginning of the session, will serve to introduce each theme.
Evaluation methods
Evaluation will take the form of:
  • An oral exam during the exam session,
  • A group, drawing-based, assignement, presented orally during the session.
During the exam, students will demonstrate their understanding of the concepts covered in the lectures as well as their ability to develop a synthetic critique based on them.
Two formative submissions will be organized throughout the year to help guide students’ work. These will not be graded but will be mandatory in order to present the exam.
If generative artificial intelligences (AI) are used, they must be employed responsibly and in accordance with the practices of academic and scientific integrity. This implies that any person making use of generative AI in a manner that does not comply with the uses specified in the course description of the relevant teaching unit is committing an irregularity within the meaning of Art. 107 of the RGEE (work not personally produced by the student within the framework of an evaluation).
Faculty or entity
> LOCI


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

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Master [120] in Architecture (Bruxelles)
ARCB2M
5