Techniques of Design: History and Theory of Architecture VIII (FS 23)

Architects do not build. Instead, they draw, photograph, write, or build models. They are rarely directly involved in the realization, and even less often do they participate in construction with their own hands. Since architects are not present at the construction site, they must communicate their intentions to the executors. In doing so, they rely on a range of representational techniques that have long preoccupied Western architectural theory. The introduction of digital planning tools, which promised a closer alignment between planning and execution, has not changed this fact.

However, each technique has its own history, conventions, and methods. The techniques of architectural representation are not objective means of reproducing reality but rather reflect specific discursive practices and conventions rooted in their inherent logic, rules, and production context. This lecture series will explore this question through nine media that have shaped 20th-century architecture.