Concept Atlas. Theory and History of Modern Architecture

Abstract

This book is a learning tool designed with the aim of providing the students of Architectural Composition 3 at the University of Alicante with an accessible route to exploring the most relevant concepts of this module which, in reality, is a course on theory and history of modern architecture. We have given it the name of “concept atlas” because it consists precisely of a series of plates and diagrams mapping out a cartography of ideas and the links that relate them in the space and time contexts of the last two and a half centuries of western architecture. Compiled into twelve units, from the Enlightenment to postmodernism, this atlas has been designed as an interactive guide which seeks to foster a more dynamic way of learning. In order to achieve this, it relies as much on the classic manuals of modern architecture as on the writings of the principle actors themselves, thus making available a wide range of possibilities for identifying and understanding their contributions, all of this through the new ways of approaching and processing information provided by learning and communication technologies. The document presents information by way of four major interrelated content groups: the first and principal group consists of the concept maps which, in the form of a diagram, spreading out from the general to the specific, break down the key concepts of the particular unit in question and underline the relation between them and to each other; secondly, the architects; and next the projects, which are presented by location and for each of them there is an assigned corresponding dossier; and finally, the bibliography. The power and the interactivity of this tool, however, is not only found in the quantity of ordered information it provides, but, above all, in the relationships and connections which can be inferred from this compilation thanks to the possibilities provided by its digital format.