Analysis-Villa Shodan (1956),
Le Corbusier
Critics-Richard Henderson & Tony Candido
for
role
status
year
The Cooper Union
Student
Project
1986
A work by one of the major architects of the twentieth century is selected and analyzed in depth. the analysis is done either by a single individual of by a team of students. The work is analyzed and viewed from many different angles: in this way the complexities and overlays of architectural thought and fact are revealed. The student begins to understand and realize how much really goes into the making of a significant piece of architecture. He dissects the work and reassembles it; he begins to discover the differences and similarities among the major works. He finds that some works defy dissection; that they have a tendency not to be separable into parts, and consequently the meaning of organic takes on a significance. In the search, things are discovered that perhaps the creator of the work had not even intended. Through the investigation, the student reveals his own architectural thought to himself on a more critical plane; he even invents within the analyses. At first the ego is overwhelmed by a thorough analysis of another’s work- a period of adjustment becomes necessary before the start of one’s own creative work- but once the impact is received and absorbed, one’s new work becomes filled on many levels. The analysis problem is one of re-creation. – John Hejduk
