Timothy Wittman

This course examines significant developments in European architecture, with regard to structure, function, and style, from the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century through the outbreak of World War I. Major architects and their works are dealt with in the context of pertinent practical, theoretical, and social issues, to assess the overall prominence of architecture in the period of emergent modernism in Europe.

How do we see the buildings, forms, and spaces as well as the light and shadow that surround us? This class will foster both traditional and creative approaches to photographing architectural structures and dimensional spaces through a combination of visual formalism, direct representation, and conceptual interpretation, allowing students to bring their own particular aesthetic to the process. Architecture is one of the most challenging subjects to photograph with its distortion issues, ambient and mixed light challenges, and the need for problem solving, often with a minimum of equipment. Students will gain technical knowledge and skills necessary to photograph a wide range of 3-dimensional structures and spaces. Working with large format, medium format and digital SLR cameras, the class will be introduced to observational and analytical methodologies that in combination with technical skills, become part of a toolkit for being able to work with technically and conceptually challenging photographic subjects and situations.

How do we see the buildings, forms, and spaces as well as the light and shadow that surround us? This class will foster both traditional and creative approaches to photographing architectural structures and dimensional spaces through a combination of visual formalism, direct representation, and conceptual interpretation, allowing students to bring their own particular aesthetic to the process. Architecture is one of the most challenging subjects to photograph with its distortion issues, ambient and mixed light challenges, and the need for problem solving, often with a minimum of equipment. Students will gain technical knowledge and skills necessary to photograph a wide range of 3-dimensional structures and spaces. Working with large format, medium format and digital SLR cameras, the class will be introduced to observational and analytical methodologies that in combination with technical skills, become part of a toolkit for being able to work with technically and conceptually challenging photographic subjects and situations.

This course surveys the development of commercial, institutional and residential architecture and interiors in Europe from 1890 to 1965. It examines significant movements and individuals that shaped modern architecture's history through an analysis of the theoretical literature that accompanied the built forms now understood as 'modern.' Seminal texts analyzed include those by Morris, van de Velde, Loos, Gropius, van Doesburg, Le Corbusier, Aalto, Rowe, Stirling and Rossi, among others.

This course examines the career of America's best known architect alongside the work of his followers. Consideration is given to the origins of the Prairie School, how it achieved broad patronage, and why its popularity declined after World War I. Also examined are the Prairie School's eclecticism, its relationship to modernism, and its principles of organic design. On-site explorations include Wright's Oak Park Home and Studio and the Wright Prairie School Historic District in Oak Park. Other architects considered for their interpretations of the style are W.B. Griffin, B. Byrne, Tallmadge and Watson, W. Drummond, and G.W. Maher.

Between its incorporation in 1833 and the world's fair of 1933, Chicago was internationally the most important site for development of modern architecture. From the commercial buildings of Burnham and Root or Adler and Sullivan to the domestic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School, Chicago was on the 'cutting edge.' This architectural 'century of progress' is explored through field trips and on-site lectures. Chicago and its suburbs are the class's 'museum.'