Students will also learn about Louis I. Kahn, who began to attract national recognition with the design of the Yale University Art Gallery after he was past the age of 50. With his shock of thick, white hair and a face scarred by a childhood accident, Kahn cut an imposing figure. He demanded perfection, as Professor Yanik experienced firsthand working for him. He tried to imbue modern work with that same kind of spirit. The course traces the sources of modern architecture from its emergence in the late 19th century through its development today.
Students explore theories of particular architectural movements, both historical and modern.
Most important, Professor Yanik said, is that students gain a context to help shape their own architectural careers. Teaching a morning lecture class to students who have been up all night in their studios is not always easy, Professor Yanik observed. Professor Yanik uses as a model Vincent Scully, one of his professors at Yale. So Professor Yanik moves about the front of the lecture hall, a portable microphone freeing him from the lectern, his slides illuminating ideas and theories. It may be difficult for his younger architecture students to immediately grasp why they need to know so much about Mies Van der Rohe, Walter Gropius or Le Corbusier, he acknowledged.