History of Western architectural theory, 1680–1987, through the close reading of primary texts. Lectures place the readings in the context of architectural history; the texts are discussed in required discussion sections. Topics include architecture of the Enlightenment, the picturesque, debates regarding style, historicism, and eclecticism, Gothic Revival, questions of ornament, architectural modernism, functionalism, new monumentality, critiques of modernism, and various currents of postmodernism.

This was a very informative class with lively discussion in a small group. Petit was very skilled in piquing our curiosity and informing us about the questions that arose during our meetings and from the large collections of readings.

For this class I investigated the idea that we never left the Romantic period, and that the work performed today is fully entrenched in the theory, devices and methods developed under Early and Late romanticism in Literature, Music, Performance and Applied Art. I come to the conclusion that the opposition of Romanticism versus the Enlightenment ideologies is alive in the opposition of Deconstructivism versus Phenomenology.

Romanticism and its contemporary manifestation (pdf, 2mb)