UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
SPRING 2018
ARCHITECTURE ELECTIVE
ANATOMY OF A SKYSCRAPER
INSTRUCTOR LAUREN BROWN
COURSE DESCRIPTION
A broad survey of an exclusively modern architectural typology, this course aims to understand the skyscraper contextually by evaluating its role and impact in dense urban conditions and its formal evolutions as it became an iconic cultural object. The course also aims to understand the skyscraper pragmatically by tracking its rise due to innovations in building and construction technologies, analyzing its formulaic anatomy and detailing, and considering the way in which it is programmed and inhabited.
Course content is delivered primarily through lectures, discussions, and readings, with each student executing an in-depth case study of a built skyscraper using three-dimensional modeling.
REQUIRED TEXT
The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper by Kate Ascher