Contemporary Architectural Theory

Undergraduate | 2026

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Area/Catalogue
ARCH 2000
Course ID icon
Course ID
200805
Level of study
Level of study
Undergraduate
Unit value icon
Unit value
6
Course level icon
Course level
2
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Inbound study abroad and exchange
Inbound study abroad and exchange
The fee you pay will depend on the number and type of courses you study.
Yes
University-wide elective icon
University-wide elective course
Yes
Single course enrollment
Single course enrolment
Yes
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Note:
Course data is interim and subject to change

Course overview

The course will equip students with knowledge of modernity both as a cultural transformation extending back to 18th century ideas of progress, scientific rationality and historical consciousness and as an artistic/architectural discourse unfolding in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Modernity was a radical re-questioning of all traditional concepts of program, construction and aesthetics, parallel to an unprecedented social, urban and technological transformation. As such it is both a theory and a history course based upon the conviction that the two are tightly complementary. Proceeding along a thematic as well as chronological ordering of the material, students will be introduced to significant architects, works and ideas, presented within the broader cultural, historical and political circumstances. Students will analyse relevant criticism and scholarship, employing different research methods, and demonstrate critical evaluation in academic writing tasks. This course aligns with the programs intent to critically engage students with diverse historical, theoretical and cultural perspectives on design to prepare for global practice.

  • Module 1
  • Module 2
  • Module 3

Course learning outcomes

  • Apply intermediate knowledge and skills of academic writing utilising established conventions
  • Identify key projects, designers, design theories and movements in architecture, landscape architecture and urban design since the twentieth century
  • Interpret & discuss these design theories and forms in the historical contexts in which have developed
  • Develop knowledge of the effect(s) of the architect/designer/historian on how we understand modernity, and the process through which these effect(s) influence subsequent accounts of modernism and modernity
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the cultural and ideological practices of modernity and its commitment to materialist ideas of history and visions of possible future(s)
  • Evaluate diverse scholarly sources to execute clear and concise analytical texts supported by graphic communication

Prerequisite(s)

N/A

Corequisite(s)

N/A

Antirequisite(s)

N/A