ARCH 631
Housing Seminar II
Professor Robert Mellin
School of Architecture, McGill University
Winter Term 2009
robert.mellin@mcgill.ca
Course webpage:
http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/mellin/hseminar09/index.html
Please note that the course outline and schedule will be updated on the web page. Please
remember to check this site weekly for clarifications, for schedule changes, readings
(articles available online), and for supplementary references.
Pedagogical objectives:
The purpose of this graduate seminar is to build context around the topic of “housing”
through the investigation of current issues in and approaches to architecture, cultural
landscapes, and material culture.
Meetings:
Tuesdays from 2:00-4:00 in room 420.
Assignments:
Mid-term paper followed by a project
There are two points of departure for independent study that will help you to prepare for
your assignments for this seminar. The first is an article by Mitchell (2003) on “Medium
Theory” (available on the web and as a pdf accessed from the seminar web page: this is a
preface to the 2003 Critical Inquiry Symposium). The second involves the novels of
Sebald (Austerlitz, or The Rings of Saturn, or The Emigrants) and a particular secondary
source (Searching for Sebald: Photography after W. G. Sebald: The Institute for Cultural
Inquiry, Los Angeles, 2007). Sebald’s novels are readily available either from the library
or bookstores. I requested Searching for Sebald for reserve books at the library.
The mid-term assignment is the preparation of a typed, concise (5-10 pages doublespaced) paper on interpretation / representation that informs the approach to your end-ofterm assignment. This paper should provide some background on your readings and
should explain any influence on your end-of-term assignment. You may decide to
concentrate on Sebald, but if you are already familiar with Sebald, or if you prefer to
supplement the readings on Sebald with other readings or other references please let me
know. The mid-term paper is due March 3.
The end-of term assignment is a project in a format similar to Anne Meredith Berry’s
Gros Morne Time Lines (see the pdf file linked to the web page). Hers is a fold out book,
but you will produce a web version that requires scrolling to the right (continuous
images) on a standard Dreamweaver web page template I will provide that uses a simple
table for positioning images. This project (text, photos, drawings) will feature your
documentation and interpretation of a particular area, building, condition, way of living,
or artifact in Montreal, with reference to time, place, space, and possibly with reference
to other aspects like light, materials, and details. In other words, the assignment is fairly
open-ended, informed by hermeneutics and ekphrasis (as will be discussed in the first
seminar session), and possibly somewhat risky (see Clare Melhuis, “Editorial: Why
Anthropology?,” in Architectural Design Profile: Architecture and Anthropology [New
York: VCH Publishers, 2000, folio NA2543 S6 A6 1996], 7.). The main references on
the seminar bibliography may also be helpful in this regard. As you will find from your
readings on Sebald (see Searching for Sebald), the visual character / layout of text and
graphics is very important for this assignment.
The EMF network features the suite of Adobe software products (Dreamweaver,
Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, etc.). Robert Mellin will provide assistance with basic
web page template mechanics/image preparation. Carrie Henzie in the School of
Architecture is also available to answer questions on web page technical issues, but if you
keep things simple there should not be any issues.
End of term assignment format:
Each “page” or image on the sample of the assignment format on the course web page is
a jpg image 6” wide by 8” high at a resolution of 105dpi. Folded paper in a book was
used for continuity in the original document. However, you can enhance the continuity by
presenting a continuous image with graphics and text arranged accordingly. For example,
if you decide to have 20 pages with the dimensions shown above, you can present one
final image that is 120” wide by 8” high at 105dpi (you must use width multiples of 6”).
The final image must be in jpg format (colour or grayscale) at 105pdi for the web page,
and a second image at 300dpi (same dimension constraints) must be provided for printing
purposes. Your name and your project title must be integrated in the graphic design of
your images.
Grading:
Mid-term paper:
30%
Project presentation
10%
Project:
50%
Participation:
10%
McGILL UNIVERSITY VALUES ACADEMIC INTEGRITY. THEREFORE ALL
STUDENTS MUST UNDERSTAND THE MEANING AND CONSEQUENCES OF
CHEATING, PLAGIARISM AND OTHER ACADEMIC OFFENCES UNDER THE
CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES (see
www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information).
Schedule (subject to change): suggested readings in italics
Independent readings for assignments:
Searching for Sebald: Photography after W. G. Sebald
Austerlitz and/or
The Rings of Saturn and/or
The Emigrants
January 13: Introduction: discuss course outline, requirements, web pages. Presentation
(R. Mellin) on suburbia.
Suburban Transformations
Places of Presence
Architecture and Suburbia
Worlds Away
January 20: Presentation (R. Mellin) on housing in Ahmedabad, India (site and services,
informal settlements, and The Pols).
“Site and Services Case Study” (R. Mellin’s thesis and article)
Born into Brothels (view the special features after you watch the DVD).
January 27: Presentation (R. Mellin): research approach, rural Newfoundland, part one
(Tilting, Fogo Island, Newfoundland).
Tilting
Living in a Material World
February 3: Presentation (R. Mellin) on rural Newfoundland, part two. (Tilting and Joe
Batt’s Arm, Fogo Island, Newfoundland).
Vernacular Architecture
NFB Fogo Island films: late 1960’s (DVD)
February 10: Presentation (R. Mellin) on rural Newfoundland, part three. (Tilting and Joe
Batt’s Arm, Fogo Island, Newfoundland). Project in Middle Arm.
Passing the Time in Ballymenone
Hana’s Suitcase
Homes by Design (TV program)
February 17: Presentation (R. Mellin) on urban Newfoundland (St. John’s,
Newfoundland), including R. Mellin’s research for CMHC (Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation).
Rain, Drizzle, and Fog (DVD)
Suburban Transformations
“A City of Towns” (R. Mellin) CMHC External Research Report
February 24: No seminar (reading week)
March 3: Presentation by Professor Ricardo Castro on Pattern Language and housing by
Salmona in Bogota, Colombia. Mid-term paper due March 3.
Rogelio Salmona
A Pattern Language
Sewer dwellers in Bogota (DVD)
March 10: Presentation by R. Mellin on housing in and near Bogota (custom design,
public housing, the old city, plantations, and “the unseen.” Presentation by Ricardo Vera
on his Ph.D. dissertation research on The Kogi in Colombia.
March 17: Presentation by R. Mellin on Havana, Cuba
Havana: Two Faces of the Antillean Metropolis (Mario Coyula)
Interview with Mario Coyula (DVD)
Waiting for Fidel (DVD)
The Buena Vista Social Club (DVD)
March 24: Presentation by architect Joe Carter on Beijing
March 31: Student presentations of projects (15 minutes each).
April 7: Student presentations of projects (15 minutes each). Submit final web page and
project graphics digital files on April 7.
Library books on reserve (or ordered) for ARCH 631:
Searching for Sebald: Photography after W. G. Sebald PT2681 E18 Z85 2007
Austerlitz (W. G. Sebald) PT2681 E18 A9513 200
Hana’s Suitcase (Karen Levine) DS135 C97 B6655 2003 (on order?)
The Architecture of the Everyday (Deborah Berke, Steven Harris, Editors) NA2543
S6 A633 1997
Domesticity at War (Colomina, Beatriz) NA7208 C589 2007
The Practice of Everyday Life (de Certeau, Michel, with Luce Giard and Pierre Mayol)
HN8 C4313 1984 (try to find the U. of Minnesota 1998 edition if you decide to purchase
this book)
Creates, Marlene, Signs of Our Time TR647 C733 2006
Vernacular Architecture (Henry Glassie) NA208 G59 2000
The Lure of the Local (Lucy Lippard) GF503 L56 1997
On the Beaten Track: Tourism, Art, and Place (Lucy Lippard) G155 A1 L57 1999
Tilting (Robert Mellin) NA7243 T55 M45 2003
Living in a Material World (Gerald Pocius, et. al.) HC117 N4 N47 no.19
Places of Presence (Marlene Creates) N6549 C74 A4 1993b and/or on order for the
library
Passing the Time in Ballymenone (Henry Glassie)
GR148 B34 G55 1982
Signs of Our Times (Marlene Creates) TR647 C733 2006
Language and Land use (Marlene Creates) N6549 C74 A4 1998
The Architecture of the City (Aldo Rossi) NA9031 R6713
Rossi A Scientific Autobiography (Aldo Rossi) NA1123 R616 A2 1981
Havana: Two Faces of the Antillean Metropolis (Mario Coyula et. al.): on order for the
library
Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes (Walker Art Center): on order for the library
Rogelio Salmona (Ricardo L. Castro) folio NA879 S25 C38 1998: please check to see if
Ricardo’s new book on Salmona is in the library in time for his seminar!
Other references of importance to the seminar:
The Emigrants (W. G Sebald)
The Rings of Saturn (W. G. Sebald)
Gros Morne Time Lines (Kevin Major, Anne Meredith Barry, Tara Bryan), Walking Bird
Press
The Shape of Time (George Kubler) N66 K8
The Stories of John Cheever (John Cheever) PS3505 H62 S7: especially The
Housebreaker of Shady Hill.
The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields) PS8587 H53 S86 2002
The Poetics of Space (Bachelard, Gaston) B2430 B253 P63 1994
A Pattern Language (Christopher Alexander et. al.) NA9050 A49x
The Principles of Uncertainty (Maira Kalman), New York, Penguin Press, 2007.
Jimmy Corrigan (Chris Ware) New York: Random House, 2000.
Suburban Transformations (Lukez, Paul) New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.
“Site and Services Case Study” (Robert Mellin) McGill M. Arch Thesis and Open House
International article.
Ivan Illich in Conversation (David Cayley) Anansi, 1992.
Space and Place (Yi-Fu Tuan)
Pamphlet Architecture No. 9 (Steven Holl), Princeton Architectural Press.
Architecture and Suburbia: from English Villa to American Dream House, 1690-2000
(John Archer).
Born into Brothels (view the special features after you watch the DVD). HQ792 I5 B67
DVD
“A City of Towns” (R. Mellin) CMHC External Research Report: copies available from
R. Mellin.
“Editorial: Why Anthropology?,” (Clare Melhuis) in Architectural Design Profile:
Architecture and Anthropology (New York: VCH Publishers, 2000, page 7,
folio NA2543 S6 A6 1996)
Additional references possibly of interest:
Geography of Home (Busch, Akiko) NK2113 B87 1999
The Grand Domestic Revolution (Hayden, Dolores) HQ1426 H33
The Power of Place (Dolores Hayden)
Redesigning the American Dream (Hayden, Dolores) HD7293 H39 2002
A Field Guide to Sprawl (Hayden, Dolores) New York: Norton, 2004).
The New Urbanism (Peter Katz) NA2542.4 K38 1994
Rural Studio (Andrea Oppenheimer Dean) NA2300 A9 D43 2002
In Detail Series: High Density Housing NA7860 V4713 2004
In Detail Series: Building Simply NA682 M55 B85 2005
In Detail Series: Housing for People of All Ages NA2545 P5 H5713 2007
In Detail Series: Japan: architecture, constructions, ambiances NA1555 J353 2002
In Detail Series: Semi-detached and terraced houses NA7520 S46 2006
In Detail Series: Solar architecture: strategies, visions, concepts NA2542 S6 S662 2003
Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions (Soja, E.W.) Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 2000.
Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places (Soja, E.W.)
Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 1996
The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century (Scott, A.J
and E.W. Soja, eds.) Berkeley: University of California Press. 1996
Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory. (Soja,
E.W.) London: Verso Press, 1989
Town House (Bernard Herman) NA7206 H47 2005
Duany, Andres, Towns and Town Making Principles NA9015 C35 G86 1991
McCoy, Esther, Case Study Houses, 1945-1962 NA7235 C2 M2 1977
Moore, Charles The Place of Houses NA7125 M66
Polyzoides, Stefanos, Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles NA7238 L6 P6 1982
Hines, Thomas S., Richard Neutra and the Search for Modern Architecture NA737
N4 H5 2005
James Corner, Editor; Recovering Landscape: Essays in Contemporary Landscape
Architecture (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999).
Scanning (Diller and Scofidio): bad ironing, housing designs, and more!) Lost book, but I
asked the library to order another one.
Small houses for the next century (Duo Dickinson)
Louis I Kahn Houses (Yutaka, Saito)