»Architecture or Revolution«
Architecture as democratic emancipation*******

»Architecture or Revolution,« Le Corbusier's famous concluding comment in his 1923 book, Towards a new Architecture, ends with the clear conviction that »Revolution can be avoided«. Following Le Corbusier, the modernization of building alone could already reduce social unrest. However he emphasized, that he was solely concerned with technical, not with political issues.
Ninety years have passed since Le Corbusier claimed that a better architecture would suffice to prevent social unrest. In the meantime, Europe went through the most dreadful of dictatorships imaginable. Today, the picture is entirely different: not only do most europeans live under the rule of constitutional democracy, also, it has become a model of success in many parts of the world. On the other hand, alternative forms of democratic articulations are being discussed, many of them on the street and through social networks.
And yet, political theory and philosophy are largely excluded from architectural thinking. What knowledge could be drawn from a closer examination of different positions? What are the possibilities of architecture within these different articulations of democracy? Where do politics manifest themselves in architectural thinking; to what extent are ethical aspects addressed? And: What do forms of articulation, such as those of Rem Koolhaas have to do with it?
The aim of this seminar is to write a bachelor thesis or a scientific essay. Research questions will be detailed in collaboration with the advisor. Students will also be introduced to principles of argumentation and of scientific research and writing.

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The course is bilingual (German/English) and subdivided into three main parts. The units will be detailed further at the beginning of the semester.

a) Supervised research and formulation of a research question
b) Independent research and writing of an academic abstract
c) Oral presentation of the state of the art, construction of the argument and writing of the final paper

10.10.2017, 14:00 (=2 pm), first unit, seminar room at architecture theory

Please consider the plagiarism guidelines of TU Wien when writing your seminar paper: http://www.tuwien.ac.at/fileadmin/t/ukanzlei/t-ukanzlei-english/Plagiarism.pdf
Please consider the plagiarism guidelines of TU Wien when writing your seminar paper: https://www.tuwien.ac.at/fileadmin/t/ukanzlei/t-ukanzlei-english/Plagiarism.pdfPlease consider the plagiarism guidelines of TU Wien when writing your seminar paper: Directive concerning the handling of plagiarism (PDF)

Written academic paper.

The bibliography will be available on TISS in the course of the semester.