The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
University of Pittsburgh, College of General Studies
The End of Architecture – Part 2: Amorphous, Entropic, Plasticity
Spring Semester 2022 (Posvar Hall, room 1502)
Spring Semester 2023 (Online Zoom)
An extension of a topic explored previously – The End of Architecture, this class is a continuation of a 2018 class, that ended with Philip Johnson’s Glass House (1949) and Rem Koolhaas’ Junkspace. Now at the end of the twentieth century, into the twenty-first, each lecture will focus on one architect, examining their schematic strategies, theoretic postulates, and material executions, pioneering the future of architecture. Charting the decline of human centered architecture, into the amorphous, entropic, plasticity of contemporary space, disconnected, isolated, foreign to any natural or meaningful experience.
Lecture 1: Zaha Hadid (Wednesday, March 16th 2022, 1-3pm; Thursday, February 2nd 2023, 10-11:30am)
Junkspace (Rem Koolhaas, 2001)
Spring 2022 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Spring 2023 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Lecture 2: Frank Gehry (Wednesday, March 23rd 2022, 1-3pm; Thursday, February 9th 2023, 10-11:30am)
5th Venice Biennale (Peter Eisenman & Frank Gehry, 1991)
Spring 2022 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Spring 2023 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Lecture 3: Philippe Block (Wednesday, March 30th 2022, 1-3pm; Thursday, February 16th 2023, 10-11:30am)
Spring 2022 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Spring 2023 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Lecture 4: Neri Oxman (Wednesday, April 6th 2022, 1-3pm; Thursday, February 23rd 2023, 10-11:30am)
Spring 2022 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Spring 2023 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Lecture 5: Jun’ya Ishigami (Wednesday, April 13th 2022, 1-3pm; Thursday, March 2nd 2023, 10-11:30am)
Spring 2022 Lecture Audio (podcast):
Spring 2023 Lecture Audio (podcast):
