Undergraduate Course: Architectures of Socialism (ARHI10045)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course surveys the urban and architectural legacy of socialist systems from a global perspective. |
| Course description |
This course surveys the urban and architectural legacy of socialist systems from a global perspective. Beginning in the early twentieth century with the October Revolution, it traces the development of architecture in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and other territories throughout the twentieth century and up to the present. The aim of the course is to explore the vast and understudied built environment produced by state socialism, thereby mapping a history of architecture in the twentieth century that complements and corrects received narratives about the relationship of socialism to the built environment. It will address topics including: the radical social mission of early socialist projects for architecture and the city; the development of an enriched, monumental approach to architecture and urbanism during the Stalin Era; the diffusion of socialist architectural paradigms throughout Eastern Europe, China, and elsewhere; collaboration and competition among socialist architectural systems and the capitalist world; and relationships between socialist architectural culture and the developing world. Through case studies drawn from Moscow, Berlin, Kiev, Havana, Aswan (Egypt), Beijing, Hanoi, Pyongyang, and others, the course asks students to consider the proposition that there were - and perhaps may still be - distinct architectures of socialism.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 12,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 2,
Fieldwork Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
152 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Research Paper (70%)
Essay (30%) |
| Feedback |
Feedback on shorter writing assignment (due week 5); feedback on research essay plan (week 8) |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Develop an understanding of the impact of socialist systems on the global built environment.
- Develop an understanding of current scholarship on the architectures of socialism.
- Develop a critical understanding of the relationship between modernization and architectural paradigms in both advanced capitalist and socialist worlds.
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Reading List
Åman, Anders. Architecture and Ideology in Eastern Europe during the Stalin Era: An Aspect of Cold War history. New York, 1992.
Anderson, Richard. Russia: Modern Architectures in History. London, 2015.
Bocharov, Iu. P., L. V. Baldin, and N. F. Gulianitskii, eds. Arkhitektura SSSR, 1917-1987. Moscow, 1987.
Kulic, Vladimir, Maroje Mrduljaés, and Wolfgang Thaler. Modernism in-between: the mediatory architectures of Socialist Yugoslavia. Berlin, 2012.
Ritter, Katharina, Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermeir, Dietmar Steiner, and Alexandra Wachter. "Soviet Modernism 1955-1991: Unknown History." In Architektur Zentrum Wien, 358 p. Zurich: Park Books, 2012.
Zhu, Jianfei. Architecture of Modern China: A Historical Critique. London, 2009.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Develops skills in personal and intellectual autonomy. Enhances skills in knowledge and understanding of the history of architecture. |
| Keywords | architecture,socialism |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Dimitrij Zadorin
Tel:
Email: dzadorin@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Ellie Wallace
Tel: (0131 6)50 2309
Email: Ellie.Wallace@ed.ac.uk |
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