Free Ways to Learn about #Architecture

Learning doesn't necessarily need to be formal – or expensive for that matter. Thanks to the Internet and some generous benefactors, you can further your education for free from the comfort of your own home. Top schools such as MIT and Harvard University are affiliated with free online learning resources, allowing people from all over the globe to connect and audit courses at their own pace. In some cases, these services even provide self-educators with proof for having completed courses. Keep reading after the break to check out our round-up of four free online learning resources.

MIT OpenCourseWare: Architecture

In 2003, MIT officially launched OpenCourseWare – an online platform through which absolutely anyone can access the same course content as paying students – for free. The architecture section boasts over 100 undergraduate and graduate level courses, complete with downloadable lecture notes, assignments, reading lists, and in many cases, examples of past student work. Even though you won’t receive feedback from professors or certification for completing coursework, having free access to the oldest architecture department in the United States’ teachings is nevertheless an amazing resource. Below are two of the MIT OpenCourseWare architecture courses, described.

• Architectural Construction and Computation is for students interested in how computers can facilitate design and construction. The course begins with a pre-prepared computer model, which is used for testing and investigating the construction process. The construction process is explored in terms of detail design and structural design, taking legal and computational issues into consideration.

• Theory of City Form is one of the handful of architecture courses offered in audio and video format through MIT OpenCourseWare. The title is pretty self-explanatory – the course presents students with historical and modern theories of city form along with appropriate case studies, helping them build an understanding of urbanism and architecture for future educational and professional pursuits.

Delft University of Technology OpenCourseWare

Just like MIT, TU Delft also has an OpenCourseWare platform – albeit less extensive. Even though the website does not have a designated architecture section, designers can still make use out of the prestigious school’s science and technical offerings. Available material for the majority of courses includes audio and video lecture recordings, readings, assignments, and practice exams.

• Bio Inspired Design ”gives an overview of non-conventional mechanical approaches in nature and shows how this knowledge can lead to more creativity in mechanical design and to better solutions than with conventional technology. It discusses a large number of biological organisms with smart constructions, unusual mechanisms or clever sensing and processing methods and presents a number of technical examples and designs of bio-inspired instruments and machines.”

• Wastewater Treatment looks at the development of wastewater treatment technologies and their application. “High-tech and low-tech systems, which are applicable in both industrialized and developing countries, are discussed.” Specific examination topics include technologies for nutrient removal and recovery, such as anaerobic treatment systems and membrane filtration techniques.

EdX: Architecture

EdX, a non-profit online initiative founded by MIT and Harvard University, offers free interactive classes from some of the world’s top schools. If you decide to take a course, you can try for a certificate of achievement – or you can simply audit it, choosing what and how much you want to do. It’s up to you. A huge benefit is being able to connect with like-minded classmates all over the world using the website’s peer-to-peer social learning tools. In addition to categories like computer science, music, and economics, they have a dedicated architecture section. Two of their architecture courses, described below, are currently open to fall registration.

• The Search for Vernacular Architecture of Asia ”is a comprehensive, dialogue-based course providing an in-depth exploration of the vernacular concept and its applications to the culture and built environments of the past, present, and future. Designed to promote discussion and dialogue while contributing to the discourse surrounding the concept of the vernacular, this five-week course will challenge the perception of tradition and stimulate a deeper analysis of one’s local environment.” As suggested in the title, the course will focus specifically on the vernacular in Asia.

• “While the development of cities in different parts of the world is moving in diverse directions, all estimations show that cities worldwide will change and grow strongly in the coming years” – especially in the tropics, where “it is expected that the number of new urban residents will increase by 3 times the population of Europe today.” With a specific focus on Asia, Future Cities will explore design and management methods over the course of nine weeks to increase the sustainable performance of cities and therefore, their resiliency.

Open Online Academy

Open Online Academy, a platform similar to Edx, offers a more selective range of courses relating specifically to architecture, art, and design. Dr. Ivan Shumkov, the website’s founder and one of its educators, is a New York based architect, curator, and professor. He has taught at Harvard GSD, the Pratt Institute‘s School of Architecture, and Parsons The New School for Design – just to name a few. So far, Open Online Academy offers six courses, two of which are described below. Be sure to keep an eye out for when the platform expands in the fall to offer additional courses concerning leadership, negotiation, and management.

• Contemporary Architecture analyzes “major contemporary architectural ideas, ideologies, and projects in the context of both globalization and specific local contexts” over an 8-week period. Students will study material from the 1990s onwards, submitting weekly assignments and sitting in on virtual classes and tours. After 27,000 people from across the globe participated in the course’s first iteration, it is being offered again starting June 30, 2014.

• Designing Resilient Schools is taught by Shumkov, Arnold Rivera, and Illac Diaz, the man behind the Liter of Light project in the Phillippines, which won the Curry Stone Design Prize in 2012. The 8-week course focuses on designing resilient schools for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Phillippines on November 9th, 2013. At the end of the course, which is essentially an online version of a collaborative design studio, an international jury will select the best proposals for future implementation. The next iteration of the course starts on September 1, 2014.

The remaining four courses and their start dates are:

• Designing Emergency Shelters by Ivan Shumkov and Arnold Rivera (June 30, 2014)
• Frank Lloyd Wright and the 20th Century by John Lobell (September 1, 2014)
• Introduction to GIS and Mapping (in Spanish) by Maria Ramos Sanz from UNAUS Barcelona (September 1, 2014)
• Understanding Contemporary Art by John David Ebert (September 1, 2014)

Whelan, Jennifer. "Four Ways to Learn About Architecture for Free" 16 Jun 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed 26 Aug 2014.

Kindly Check Original http://www.archdaily.com/515808/four-ways-to-learn-about-architecture-for-free-as-it-should-be/

25Free Publications to read on Architecture

Original Article can be found at
http://www.archdaily.com/537994/25-free-architecture-books-you-can-read-online/


If you don’t have access to an architecture library (and even if you do), sifting through shelves can take hours. Buying books can be even more painful — for your wallet, at least. Instead, why not browse this list of 25 books that are all free and easily accessible online? Some are well-known classics of architecture literature, but we hope you find a few surprises as well.

1. Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture (15 BC)

By Vitruvius Pollio

Quite simply, one of the most influential architecture books of all time.

2. Seven Lamps of Architecture (1889)
By John Ruskin
John Ruskin was an exceptionally talented painter, philosopher and art critic in Victorian England. The Seven Lamps of Architecture, including “Sacrifice,” “Truth” and “Beauty,” is well worth uncovering — not just for the philosophical lessons but also for Ruskin’s amazing illustrations.

3. The Stones of Venice (1851)
By John Ruskin
The Stones of Venice is Ruskin’s sequel to The Seven Lamps of Architecture. If you have been or want to go to Venice, this book provides comprehensive studies and sketches of the city.

4. A History of Architecture on The Comparative Method (1905)
By Banister Fletcher
English architect Banister Fletcher and his father (Banister Fletcher Sr.) penned this book comparing the architecture of various countries, trying to find the origins of their particular styles. Particularly interesting are the sketches of uncommon periods, such as Prehistoric architecture.

5. Japan : Its Architecture, Art, And Art Manufactures (1882)
By Christopher Dresser
Considered the first industrial designer, Christopher Dresser studied the craft of Japanese design. Dresser includes his elegant Japanese influenced sketches and drawings.

6. Le Corbusier: Elements of a Synthesis (1968)
By Stanislaus von Moos
Elements of a Synthesis is a precise and systematic dissection of Le Corbusier’s life and work.

7. The Architectonic Colour: Polychromy in the Purist Architecture of Le Corbusier (2011)
By Jan De Heer
This book dissects and examines Le Corbusier’s relationship with Purist Painting.

8. Design and Analysis (1997)
By Bernard Leupen, Christoph Grafe, Nicola Kornig, Mark Lampe and Peter de Zeeuw
Written by a team of professors at TU Delft who advocate for “design analysis” – a way of fusing research and education for the advancement of design practices.

9. Surrealism and Architecture (2005)
Edited by Thomas Mical
Thomas Mical attempts to show the significant connection between surrealist painting and architecture.

10. The Architecture of the City (1892)
By Aldo RossiPritzker winner Aldo Rossi’s take on urban planning’s impact on the construction of the city. His urban theories were considered groundbreaking at the time this book was published.

11. Louis Sullivan As He Lived: The Shaping Of American Architecture (1960)
By Willard Connely
Willard Connelly’s biography of the influential Louis Sullivan, mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright and the man who made Chicago the steel city it is today.

12. Technics and Civilization (1934)
By Lewis Mumford – 1934
Lewis Mumford was a prominent writer, critical regionalist and opponent to suburbanization. In Technics and Civilization, he takes an analytical look at how the machine has impacted civilization throughout history.

13. Sticks and Stones (1926)
By Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford on American building and architecture, from vernacular to the early 19^thcentury.

14. De Re Aedificatoria (1443)
By Leon Battista Alberti
Also known as On The Art Of Building, De Re Aedificatoria was the first book on Architecture printed during the Renaissance. It is considered by many to be as important an example of early architectural writing as Vitruvius’ Ten Books.

15. Eric Mendelsohn (1940)
By Arnold Whittick
The biography of Eric Mendelsohn, the architect known for his simple yet powerful sketches. An influential art deco architect, Mendelsohn escaped Nazi Germany, finding success abroad.

16. A History Of Architecture (1918)
By Fiske Kimball
Fiske Kimball, who worked on the preservation of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, wrote this chronological history of Architecture from before the Renaissance. An interesting take on architecture as seen through the eyes of a preservationist rather than an architect.

17. Architecture And Furniture (1938)
By The Museum Of Modern Art
These essays highlight Alvar Aalto’s designs in architecture and furniture. Originally published as a companion to a furniture and design exhibition at the MoMA in 1938, the highlight is Aalto’s early use of new and innovative wood products.

18. The Lesson Of Japanese Architecture (1936)
By Jiro Harada
With plenty of accompanying graphics, this gives an overarching perspective on Japanese Architecture from pre-Buddhist Japan until the 1930’s.

19. Four Walking Tours Of Modern Architecture In New York City (1961)
By Ada Louise HuxtableHuxtable was the first architecture critic at The New York Times and a Pulitzer Prize winner. This, one of Huxtable’s lesser known works, still has relevance to this day (even if a few of the buildings have had name changes).

20. Architecture: Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries (1958)
By Henry Russell Hitchock
A book devoted to materials and their influence on 19th and 20th century architecture.

21. Built In USA: Post-War Architecture (1949)
By Henry Russell Hitchcock and Arthur Drexler
Photos, plans and sections of the works of mid-century modern masters, including Alvar Aalto, Mies van der Rohe and others.

22. Modern California Houses; Case Study Houses 1945-1962 (1962)
By Esther McCoy
Designed by architects such as Richard Neutra and Pierre Koenig, these houses defined west-coast architectural theory at the time.

23. White Pillars (1941)
By J. Frazer Smith
Rural American architecture tends to be passed over, so White Pillars, whichcovers the vernacular/plantation architecture of the Mississippi Valley, is a refreshing read.

24. Modern Church Architecture (1962)
By Albert Christ-Janer and Mary Mix Foley
The 20th century churches and religious buildings included here represent a paradigm shift from traditional religious architecture.

25. Thomas Jefferson Architect and Builder (1873)
By I.T. Frary
A critical look at Thomas Jefferson as an architect, including the many (architectural) mistakes he made throughout his career. A particularly intriguing section is a long history of the constant rebuilding and redesign of Monticello.


Cite:Galloway, Andrew. "25 Free Architecture Books You Can Read Online" 18 Aug 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed 06 Sep 2014.