Cultural Context

BA Cultural Context On the BA cultural context programme students progress through one module per year: CC1 A History of Architecture, CC2 Architectural History and Urbanism and CC3: Dissertation. Through lectures, site visits, and seminars, CC1 provides an introduction to the history of architecture: The course aims to open up spatial themes, ideas, and broader contexts of architectural production, from 700BC to the present. In CC2 the lectures and seminars concentrate on critical issues in contemporary architecture and urbanism. The research and coursework produced in this module aims at a more sustained focus on architecture’s relationships with such themes such as ecology, gender, heritage, historiography, media, art and housing. In CC3, students choose, research and write about their own topics for their dissertation. This is done with the support of seminars, presentations and weekly tutorials. The dissertation is a major opportunity for students to begin shaping the trajectory of their own academic and professional careers. Among the many notable dissertations produced this year were: Mario Priore’s examination of the fashion house Fendi’s controversial renovation and occupation of the Palazzo della Civilta Italiana in Rome, Jason Jones’ study of the influence of the Japanese Shoji (sliding door) on modernism, Youmin Ho’s research into the evolution of shophouses in Malaysia, Katherine Stewart’s analysis of the role of nature in learning spaces and Maria Bahrim’s investigation of the Narkomfin building and Moisei Ginzburg’s thinking about social condensers.