Program Overview

Program Overview

The DESIGN WORKSHOP 1-MODULE 2 program is offered by the University of Genoa, with the course code 95263, during the academic year 2025/2026. This program is part of the SCIENZE DELL'ARCHITETTURA 11870 (L-17 R) - GENOVA, and it is worth 5 CFU.

Aims and Content

Aims and Learning Outcomes

The program aims to provide students with tools for understanding and critically interpreting simple architectural organisms, encouraging the development of critical design reasoning and control of compositional choices. It also seeks to develop students' critical and creative skills, stimulating reflection on the evolution of the domestic and urban environment.

Teaching Methods

The course is divided into lectures and exercises on urban visions of a possible future. Students will investigate innovations and trends in American residential architecture in the mid-twentieth century, using this knowledge as a basis for developing new housing solutions.

Syllabus/Content

The program explores the evolution of the idea of the city of the future, reflecting the continuous interaction between social and economic change, technological progress, and architectural innovation. It focuses on the visions and projects that helped define the urban imaginary in 1950s and 1960s America.

Recommended Reading/Bibliography

• Ábalos, I. (2009). Il buon abitare. Pensare le case della modernità. Milano: Christian Marinotti Edizioni.
• Banham, R. [1960] (2005). Architettura della prima età della macchina. Milano: Marinotti.
• Banham, R. (2004). Architettura della Seconda età della macchina: scritti. Milano: Electa.
• Bradbury, D. (2019). Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses. New York: Phaidon Press.
• Canevari, A. - Servente, D. (2020). Abitare nel Tempo. Venti ville del Novecento. Genova: Sagep Editori.
• Fitch, J. M. [1972] (1987). American Building: The Environmental Forces that Shape It. New York: Schocken Books.
• Ferriss, H. [1929] (2022). Metropoli del futuro. Bologna: Pendragon.
• Fishman, R. [1997] (2016). Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
• Hess, A. (2004). Googie redux: ultramodern roadside architecture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
• Koolhaas, R. [1978] (2004). Delirious New York: un manifesto retroattivo per Manhattan. Milano: Electa, 2004.
• Le Corbusier [1923] (2005). Verso una architettura. Milano: Longanesi.
• McCoy, E. (1962). Modern California houses: case study houses,. New York: Reinhold Pub. Corp.
• Mumford, L. [1922] (2008). Storia dell'utopia. Roma: Donzelli.
• Mumford, L. (1971). Il futuro della città. Milano: Il saggiatore.
• Russo Spena, R. (2019). L'architettura americana cerca una identità. Siracusa: LetteraVentidue.
• Scully, V. [1969] (1971). Architettura e disegno urbano in America: un dialogo fra generazioni. Roma: Officina.
• Serraino, P. (ed.) (2018) Julius Shulman. Modernism rediscovered. Ediz. italiana, spagnola e portoghese. Cologne: Taschen.
• Storrer, W. Allin. (2002). The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: A Complete Catalog. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Tigerman, B. (2013). A handbook of California design, : Craftspeople, designers, manufacturers. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
• Venturi, R. - Scott Brown, D. - Izenour, S. [1972] (2010), Imparare da Las Vegas. Macerata: Quodlibet.

Teachers and Exam Board

The teacher for this program is Christiano Lepratti.

Lessons

Lessons Start

According to the didactic calendar.

Class Schedule

The timetable for this course is available on the Portale EasyAcademy.

Exams

Exam Description

The exam will be individual, assessing both theoretical knowledge based on the lessons and the bibliography of the course, and practical knowledge, with respect to the work done in the preparatory and project exercises.

Assessment Methods

The oral exam will verify the level of learning of the primary notions of architectural design.