The Architectural Imagination
Architecture engages a culture’s deepest social values and expresses them in material, aesthetic form. This course will teach you how to understand architecture as both cultural expression and technical achievement. Vivid analyses of exemplary buildings, and hands-on exercises in drawing and modeling, will bring you closer to the work of architects and historians.
The first part of the course introduces the idea of the architectural imagination. Perspective drawing and architectural typology are explored and you will be introduced to some of the challenges in writing architectural history.
Then we address technology as a component of architecture. You will discover ways that innovative technology can enable and promote new aesthetic experiences, or disrupt age-old traditions. Technological advances changed what could be built, and even what could even be thought of as architecture.
Finally, we'll confront architecture’s complex relationship to its social and historical contexts and its audiences, achievements, and aspirations. You will learn about architecture’s power of representation and see how it can produce collective meaning and memory.
Architecture is one of the most complexly negotiated and globally recognized cultural practices, both as an academic subject and a professional career. Its production involves all of the technical, aesthetic, political, and economic issues at play within a given society. Join us as we examine how architecture engages, mediates, and expresses a culture’s complex aspirations.
This course is eligible for American Institute of Architects (AIA) continuing education units (CEUs). Enroll in the course to learn more about options for earning credit.
What you'll learn
- How to read, analyze, and understand different forms of architectural representation
- Social and historical contexts behind major works of architecture
- Basic principles to produce your own architectural drawings and models
- Pertinent content for academic study or a professional career as an architect
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| Rating | 3.0★ based on 4 ratings |
|---|---|
| Length | 10 weeks |
| Effort | 10 weeks, 3–5 hours per week |
| Starts | On Demand (Start anytime) |
| Cost | $259 |
| From | Harvard University, HarvardX via edX |
| Instructors | K. Michael Hays, Erika Naginski, Antoine Picon, Lisa Haber-Thomson |
| Download Videos | On all desktop and mobile devices |
| Language | English |
| Subjects | Humanities Art & Design |
| Tags | Art & Culture History Architecture |
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What people are saying
buildings on adialy basis
And I’m talking as someone who works with buildings on adialy basis for 20 years.
makes no sense unless
I’ve been really trying hard to understand what is being explained and I’ve come to the conclusion that it is unexplainable because it makes no sense unless you just swallow it whole just as it is.
supplementary videos on perspective
As a beginner I found the supplementary videos on perspective and drawing particularly helpful; sometimes the more theoretical lectures went just a little wide for me, but I never felt lost, just like there's more to learn.
at least compared
I took this course two years ago when I was attending the fourth year of Architecture, and although it might be a bit hard to understand sometimes (I’m not a native English speaker) I thought it was really good, it is an introduction to architecture, a different point of view of this field, at least compared to what I’ve learnt in my country.
fairly intelligent individual
I'm a fairly intelligent individual, however the words used seemed to be big for the sake of being big not for the sake of clarity.
go back through
I had to go back through each sentence two or three times just to parse what he was saying.
got some glimmer
I loved this course - I've never really understood what the term "architecture" means beyond making a building that won't fall down, and here I got some glimmer of the additional nuances that result both from cultural attitudes and from function.
native english speaker
someone who works
theoretical lectures went
words used seemed
it only confused
It only confused me more.
Careers
An overview of related careers and their average salaries in the US. Bars indicate income percentile.
Adjunct Instructor, Architecture $24k
Network Analyst - Architecture and Engineering $52k
Architecture Technology Instructor $56k
Client Systems Architecture analyst $61k
Staff Managing Analyst in Business Architecture practice 2 $87k
Assistant Enterprise Architecture $108k
Program Manager, Application and Enterprise Architecture $113k
Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture and Landscape Architecture $119k
Siebel CRM Administrator and Architecture Support $137k
Senior Manager of Technology Infrastructure & Architecture Project Management $138k
User Experience Designer - Information Architecture $151k
Technical Silicon Architecture Engineer Lead $172k
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| Rating | 3.0★ based on 4 ratings |
|---|---|
| Length | 10 weeks |
| Effort | 10 weeks, 3–5 hours per week |
| Starts | On Demand (Start anytime) |
| Cost | $259 |
| From | Harvard University, HarvardX via edX |
| Instructors | K. Michael Hays, Erika Naginski, Antoine Picon, Lisa Haber-Thomson |
| Download Videos | On all desktop and mobile devices |
| Language | English |
| Subjects | Humanities Art & Design |
| Tags | Art & Culture History Architecture |
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