AS Details, Details (AS 2509)
Term: 2018-2019 Academic Year Fall
Description
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course is an investigation into the future of the architectural detail. Beginning with the question, "what is an architectural detail today?," the course will first consider a range of accepted definitions- from the architectural motif (perhaps best exemplified by the Gothic), to the tectonic expression of a structural logic (Prouve, for example), to the autonomous architectural device (from Scarpa to early Morphosis). A number of contemporary architects, from Ben Van Berkel to Zaha Hadid have suggested that the relevance of the architectural detail has faded in favor of more subservient part to whole relationships.
There is no denying that, given the simultaneous technological advancement and material development of our era, the idea of seamless continuities are on the horizon (if not at our fingertips) at least from the standpoint of constructability. But, is that really the best we can do? Or might the future of the architectural detail lie in a more n