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courses

ARCH4469-1 / Fall 2025

Mark Wigley

The History of Architecture Theory

Canvas

Architecture emerges out of passionate and unending debate. Every design involves theory. Indeed, architects talk as much as they draw. This class will explore the way that theory is produced and deployed at every level of architectural discourse from formal written arguments to the seemingly casual discussions in the design studio. A series of case studies, from Vitruvius through to social media, from ancient treatises on parchment to flickering web pages and tweets, will be used to show how the debate keeps adapting itself to new conditions while preserving some relentless obsessions. Architectural discourse will be understood as a wide array of interlocking institutions, each of which has its own multiple histories and unique effects. How and why these various institutions were put in place will be established and then their historical transformations up until the present will be traced to see which claims about architecture have been preserved and which have changed.

In each session, particular attention is paid to the way that architectural theory—statements about what architecture could be, should be or should not be—acts as overt or covert agents of privilege and subordination, crafting inclusions and exclusions through active racializations, genderings, class stratifications and sexual stereotyping. Architectural theory, that is, is positioned in a cauldron of fear, desire, power, pleasure, prohibition, and transgression.

Location & Time

114 Avery

W 11 AM - 1 PM

Session & Points

Full Semester

3 Points

Sequence

History & Theory

Post-1800

N/W

Modern

CCCP Elective

Call Number

10652

Programs

M.S. Real Estate Development

Master of Architecture

M.S. Advanced Architectural Design

New York / Paris

M.S. Urban Planning

M.S. Architecture and Urban Design

M.S. Computational Design Practices

M.S. Historic Preservation

Other Semesters & Sections

Course	Semester	Title	Instructor	Syllabus	Requirements & Sequence	Location & Time	Session & Points	Call No.
A4469‑1	Fall 2024	The History of Architecture Theory	Mark Wigley		History & Theory Post-1800 N/W Modern	114 AVERY W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	10556
A4469‑1	Fall 2023	The History of Architecture Theory	Mark Wigley		History & Theory Post-1800 N/W Modern	114 AVERY W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	10048
A4469‑1	Fall 2022	The History of Architecture Theory	Mark Wigley		History & Theory Post-1800 N/W Modern	114 AVERY W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	12347
A4469‑1	Fall 2021	The History of Architecture Theory	Mark Wigley		History & Theory Post-1800 N/W Modern	113 AVERY W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	10845
A4469‑1	Fall 2020	The History of Architecture Theory	Mark Wigley		History & Theory Post-1800 N/W Modern	Online W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11554
A4469‑1	Fall 2019	The History of Architecture Theory	Mark Wigley	Syllabus	History & Theory Post-1800 N/W Modern	114 AVERY HALL W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	41558
A4469‑1	Fall 2017	The History of Architecture Theory	Mark Wigley	Syllabus	History - Modern, Lecture History & Theory Post-1800 N/W Modern	114 Avery W 11 AM - 1 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	93446
A4469‑1	Fall 2015	THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE THEORY	Mark Wigley		History & Theory Post-1800 N/W Modern	114 AVERY W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	83697