70466 - Aesthetics

Learning outcomes

Comprehension and discussion of some key questions of contemporary aesthetic debate on architecture, its language and link to the subject “city”, through a reconstructive and analytical approach.

Course contents

The course of Aesthetics (C.I. 4 CFU, 40 hours) consists of the characterizing Module 1 (2 CFU, 20 hours) and of the Module 2 - exercises (2 CFU, 20 hours).

The course will introduce and examine some of the main authors and texts in Twentieth century philosophy connected to the aesthetic reflection on architecture, and, about them, will discuss themes like “space”, “place” and “city”. Some key concepts from the former aesthetic reflection on architecture (Eighteenth-Nineteenth century), as well as the basic concepts of philosophical thought involved in texts under consideration, will be clarified.

Readings/Bibliography

1. L’esperienza della città: Lewis Mumford, L’insensata città industriale, in Id., La cultura delle città, a cura di Michela Rosso e Paolo Scrivano, Torino, Einaudi, 2007, pp. 133-212, Georg Simmel, Le metropoli e la vita dello spirito, a cura di Paolo Jedlowski, Armando, Roma 1995.

2. La città e la classe: Friedrich Engels, Le grandi città, in Id., La situazione della classe operaria in Inghilterra, trad. di Renato Panzieri, Editori Riuniti, Roma 1973, pp. 63-112; Siegfried Kracauer, Uffici di collocamento, in Id. La massa come ornamento, trad. di Maria Giovanna Amirante Pappalardo e Francesco Maione, Prismi, Napoli 1982, pp. 135-142.

3. La città e il genere: Leslie Kern, La città femminista. La lotta per lo spazio in un mondo disegnato da uomini, trad. di Natascia Pennacchietti, Treccani, Roma 2021.

4. La città e la razza: Frantz Fanon, I dannati della terra, a cura di Liliana Ellena, Einaudi, Torino 2007, pp. 3-33; Abdelmalek Sayad, Una Nanterre algerina, terra di bidonville, trad. di Agostino Petrillo, Edizioni ETS, Pisa 2019.

5. Porosità: Walter Benjamin – Asja Lacis, Napoli, in Walter Benjamin, Immagini di città, a cura di Enrico Ganni, Einaudi, Torino 2007, pp. 3-16; Alfred Sohn-Rethel, La filosofia del rotto. Della tecnica napoletana, in Id., Napoli: la filosofia del rotto, a cura di Silvano Custoza, Alessandra Cròla Editrice, Napoli-Milano 1991, pp. 39-44; Martin Mittelmeier, Ossari, in Id., Adorno a Napoli. Un capitolo sconosciuto della filosofia europea, trad. di Flavio Cuniberto, Feltrinelli 2019, pp. 35-47.

6. Aura: Walter Benjamin, L’opera d’arte nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica [seconda versione tedesca], a cura di Fabrizio Desideri, Donzelli, Roma 2012, pp. 45-91.

7. Perturbante: Sigmund Freud, Il perturbante, in Id., Saggi sull’arte, la letteratura e il linguaggio, trad. di Silvano Daniele, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 1996, pp. 267-307; Mark Fisher, The Weird and the Eerie. Lo strano e l’inquietante nel mondo contemporaneo, trad. di Vincenzo Perne, Minimum Fax, Roma 2018, pp. 7-13 e 71-75.

Teaching methods

The course comprises 40 hours of lessons (the first and the second part: 20 hours each)

Assessment methods

The course of Aesthetics (C.I. 4 CFU, 40 hours) consists, as well as of the characterizing Module 1 (2 CFU, 20 hours), of the Module 2 - exercises (2 CFU, 20 hours).

The examination of the course on Aesthetics includes the verification of the learning of the contents of all the modules that make up the course and takes place in a single exam.

Oral examination. Short texts written or discussed by students are welcome.

A very thorough knowledge of the topics covered in the course, together with high critical analysis and linking skills and a secure command of the specific terminology will be assessed with maximum marks (30-30L).
A thorough knowledge of the topics covered in the course, together with good analytical and critical skills and a secure command of the specific terminology will be assessed with good marks (27-29).
A technically adequate preparation and sufficient analytical capacity, even if not particularly articulate, expressed in correct language, will produce fair marks (23-26).
Sufficient preparation and ability to analyse, expressed in barely formally correct language, will result in a pass (18-22).

Teaching tools

The bibliographies specific to the different parts of the course will be analyzed and acquired during the various lessons, starting with the tools available in the texts indicated in the program. The teaching material presented during the lessons is made available to the student in paper or electronic format via the internet, also following the access restrictions, according to the modalities that will be indicated at the beginning of the course.

Office hours

See the website of Pierpaolo Ascari