C3. Listening to Architecture (Lamoureux)

What is a building trying to tell us?  This course explains how esthetic, historical, technical, political, and even philosophical and religious considerations need to be kept in mind in shaping the “message” that a building tries to communicate.  During the course we will focus on a few major buildings with reference to other related buildings.  The buildings are the Parthenon (Athens), Hagia Sophia (Istanbul), Notre-Dame Cathedral (Paris), Washington, DC Urban Plan (Pierre L’Enfant), Carpenter Center (Le Corbusier, Cambridge, MA), Beth Shalom Synagogue (Frank Lloyd Wright, Elkins Park, PA)

GROUP LEADER: Father Richard Lamoureux, AA, is Vice President for Mission at Assumption College. His graduate degrees are in theology and art history, with a dissertation on 15th century Italian architecture. His interests now are Michelangelo (sculpture and architecture) and 20th century architecture, especially Frank Lloyd Wright. He views architecture as the embodiment of human communities.

NO REQUIRED BOOKS
FOR THE FIRST CLASS:  Read the article by Professor James Ackerman which will be sent in digital form prior to the beginning of class.