History of Sustainable Architecture

The History of Sustainable Architecture investigates themes of nature, ecology, pollution and conservation in the built environment and visual arts. The term "sustainable architecture" is a comparatively recent one, arising in reaction to the destructive and toxic nature of the industrial era and its strident ambassador, Modern architecture. Yet, an esthetic and philosophical view of harmony with nature accompanies many forms of historical human activity in the built environment. Similarly, issues of waste removal, mechanical systems and natural materials that characterize current concerns have illustrative historical roots in numerous civilizations going back centuries and even millennia in pre-Industrial or non-industrial cultures. This course will engage texts and examples relating not simply architecture, landscape and urban history, but also art, philosophy and popular culture as a means to understand the many precedents for today's interest in sustainable architecture and planning. The course will examine texts and works by figures including Vitruvius, Pliny, Leon Battista Alberti, Thomas Cole, Frederic Law Olmsted, Buckminster Fuller, Reyner Banham, Ebenezer Howard, Hassan Fathy, Bernard Rudofsky, Norman Foster, Robert Smithson, Andy Goldsworthy and more. Students will be encouraged to apply principles from the class to understanding and execution of work in their own discipline.