Megastructures

This seminar explores the history, material facts and social theory of very large buildings. The course material investigates those proposals that have conflated the discrete, synthetic form of building with the open ended programmatic complexity of urbanism. Reyner Banham's book of 1974, Megastructure: Urban Futures of the Recent Past, serves as a principal text. Various proposals for 'building as city' will be investigated, and will include: European imperial palaces, (the Escorial and Versailles), the phalanstery of Fourier, the urban proposals of Le Corbusier (Algiers, Marseilles), Team 10, Berlin Free University, (Candilis Josic, Woods, Schiedhelm), the Metabolist city, Arthur Erickson and Rem Koolhaas.

We will also take up less ideological examples of very large building- those generated by commercial forces, or produced as a result of the centralization of infrastructure. In these cases the proposals of Victor Gruen, the buildings of John Portman, the contemporary convention center, airports, hospitals, and the hotels/casinos of Las Vegas will figure prominently. Coursework will include field observation, class presentations and papers.

Course Instructor: George Wagner