MH4004 Anthropology and Architecture Syllabus:

MH4004 Anthropology and Architecture Syllabus – Anna University PG Syllabus Regulation 2021

OBJECTIVES:

 To understand the relationship between society and the making of the built environment.
 To understand phenomenology and the role of meaning in built form.
 To look at place making from the architectural as well as urban design point of view.

UNIT I RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE, SOCIETY, ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE

Concepts of culture, society, politics and anthropology – relation between society and built environment – introduction to cultural anthropology view of architecture.

UNIT II ANTHROPOLOGY OF TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE

Architecture as a Process – kinship and house societies – perceptions of built form – conceptions of space – symbolism and technology – study of the above through case study of traditional architecture in India, Asia and Africa.

UNIT III ANTHROPOLOGY AND PLACE MAKING

Conditions of modernity –Fragmentation of society – Heidegger and notions of dwelling – C Noeberg Schultz and notions of Genius Loci Rapoport and studies on the meaning of built environment – Joseph Rykwert and the idea of house – Bollnow and idea of space – Jan Pieper and the notions of sacred space.

UNIT IV AN OVER VIEW OF URBAN ANTHROPOLOGY

Meaning of urban studies and urban anthropology – role of cities – urban ethnography, primary units, major components and units of integration – anthropology and contemporary urban issues.

UNIT V SEMINAR

Students would make presentations exploring the relevance and impact of anthropological studies on contemporary architecture and design through readings/case studies. The proposal must be discussed with course faculty prior to presentation.

TOTAL: 45 PERIODS

COURSE OUTCOMES

CO1 A comprehensive understanding of architecture and urbanism as expressions of particular societies in time and place.

REFERENCES

1. Claire Melhuish (ed); Architecture and Anthropology – AD Vol 66 No 11/12 Nov – 1996
2. Edwin James; Anthropology of the City; Prentice Hall; 1977.
3. F Bollnow; Mann, Bensch and Raum, Stuttgart; 1963.
4. J Carstern and S H Jones; About the house: Levi Strauss and Beyond; Cambrige University Press; 1955.
5. Joseph Rykwert – Idea of a Town: The Anthropology of Urban Form in Rome; 1976.
6. Joseph Rykwert; On Adams house in Paradise; MIT Press 1987
7. Nold Egenter; The review of the Primitive in Architecture – Architectural Anthropology – Research Series Vol. I and II; Structura Mundi; 1992 and 1996.
8. Roxanna Wasterson; The living House Anthropology of Architecture in S E Asia; Oxford Press.