Architectural History, Theory & Criticism

Project description

Critical discussion of the meaning of term post-modern in Charles Jencks question-article What Then is
Post-Modernism and Jean-Francois Lyotards Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism published in
The Post-Modern Reader, edited by Charles Jencks, 2nd edition, Wiley, 2010. You can choose one architectural
case study to illustrate your discussion.

Further details:
This assignment complies with the ARB requirements to engage with the contemporary written discourse and
to participate in the current debates around critical issues in the field of architecture. It should offer the base
for gaining an understanding of the history of the immediate future. I will upload the primary texts for this task. You will need to read them carefully, compare and contrast the use and meaning of the
term post-modern in the writing of Charles Jencks and Jean-Francois Lyotard. Identifying additional
sources, either primary or secondary, will give you the opportunity for an in-depth analysis of the term. You
may choose one architectural case study to illustrate the discussion. In case of using images, they should be
captioned and referenced properly.

When editing your work check first for structural considerations:
1. Are all ideas and connections between them clearly explained?
2. Have you missed any important points?
3. Does the essay have a logical order?
4. Does the introduction provide the reader with a clear map of the essay?
5. Does your conclusion reflect and consolidate your main points?
6. Are all information and ideas from other writers accurately referenced?
7. Have you answered all part of the question?
Second, consider the finer details:
1. Check sentence structure try reading it out loud if you are unsure.
2. Proofread for grammatical and spelling errors.
3. Eliminate wordiness and repetition.

Below is the marking criteria, looking at the criteria will help in doing the essay
– Content- knowledge and understating (20%): clear understanding of the theoretical foundations
of postmodernism and contemporary architecture, originality in formulating your own research
question within the assessment task and answering it; accurate expression
– Academic Research (20%): ability to identify relevant sources to develop the assessment task,
use of pertinent scholarly materials in the research.
– Critical Ability or flair (20%): ability to engage critical with the material researched: Is your essay
descriptive presenting some facts or shows exploration and analysis; use of comparative analysis,
cross-referencing critical points; attempts to use illustrate the theoretical points with examples,
either textual or architectural.
– Structure (20%): clear structure: introduction (focused introduction by answering the following
questions: what is the essay about?, how do you approach the topic?, why do you do this? or what
do you hope to achieve by approaching and studying your topic?, rationale for your chosen topic),
body and conclusion (what is your conclusion of research), well-structured paragraphs, cohesion of
paragraphs, clear introduction of points, no leaps of argument, use of sub-headings to map out the
content to the reader, a short critical appraisal of the essay in terms of learning process.
– Referencing (20%): Strong command of Harvard academic referencing style, with citations in text
(author, year, page number), followed by bibliography accurately formatted, consistency and
accuracy of the referencing method.