48-241 Modern Architecture: History & Theory

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

This course investigates the history of a wide range of buildings, architecture, cities, landscapes and theory across the 20th century around the world. The content is organized around 5 major themes: decolonization, climate change, technology, social justice and theory. We explore major movements and monuments of the Euro-American avant-garde and so-called "heroes" of modernism, but also diverse responses to modernity, including popular, tropical, vernacular, indigenous, and even anti-architecture around the world. We ask critical questions about the modern canon, the changing nature of history and theory, the biases embedded in terms like "modernism," "progress," "Non-Western," and even "architecture." We interrogate the deep legacies of colonialism, globalization, extractivism, and capitalism in which modern architecture so actively participated. The work includes weekly critical reflections on the readings and lectures, as well as a semester-long research project investigating "Non-Canonical" buildings from the Global South from three distinct eras in the 20th-century.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Spring 2027, Spring 2026

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