module specification

Architectural Publication and Journalism.

This module addresses the material history and current practice of architectural publication and journalism, from academic tomes to daily newspapers.

Assessment: 70% Writing Portfolio; 30% Class presentations; Satisfactory Attendance (required) 0%.

None

This module addresses the material history of the discipline of architectural writing through its role and influence and its main forms of publication, from academic tomes to exhibition catalogues to practice oriented journals to the news.  The module will include contributions from a range of external professionals and examine roles and skills within the industry, such as the publisher, editor, curator, and the expectations of different kinds of readers.

The module begins with a brief survey of the history of architectural publishing, including Vitruvius, Alberti, Palladio, Colen Campbell, Stuart and Revett, Pugin, Ruskin, Banister Fletcher and on into the twentieth Century. We will also look briefly at the history of the architectural magazine, from The Builder in the 1840s through to the online journals of today.

The main part of the module will examine contemporary practice in architectural publishing, concentrating mainly on magazines and books but maintaining an awareness of other media such as television, radio and the internet. The following topics will be discussed with reference to examples from recent publications:

The architectural magazine – its traditions and its future
Architecture books – histories, theoretical works, anthologies, monographs, picture books and guide books
The relationship between architectural publications and professional architectural practice
The commercial aspects of architectural publishing, especially advertising and its relationship with editorial content
Architectural publications for the layperson – newspaper features, television programmes, elementary guides
Architectural photography in publishing
The writers and editors themselves – full time professionals, free-lancers and academics
Exhibitions
The e-book revolution

Different styles of writing – news, features, building studies, reviews and technical writing – will be looked at from a publishing perspective and examined in current or recent publications.

The teaching and learning will be based on weekly mixed seminar sessions that include talks from visiting professionals, workshops and class presentations. 
Opportunities for pdp are available through the portfolio of work developed for the assessment, supported by individual tutorials.

On completing the module the student should be able to:

1. position their work within the tradition of architectural writing and its contemporary practice;
2. conceptualise the relationships inherent in different forms of publication;
3. produce a range of architectural writings for different audiences and markets;
4. demonstrate a knowledgeable of industry standards of production.

Assessment will be based on a portfolio of three to five different length articles (4500 words in total) on architectural topics for different kinds of publication (70%), class presentations on a text and/or a technical aspect of architectural writing (30%).

1. Alberti, L. B., On the Art of Building in Ten Books, trans. J. Rykwert, N. Leach and R. Tavenor (Cambridge MA: MIT, 2003)
2. Crystal, David, Begat: The Kings James Bible and the English Language (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010)
3. Dornan E. A. and Charles W. Dawe, The Brief English Handbook: a Guide to Writing, Thinking, Grammar and Research (7th ed) (Harlow: Longmans, 2003)
4. Eliot, Simon, Jonathan Rose, eds, A Companion to the History of the Book (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009)
5. Field, M., The Writer’s Guide to Research: an invaluable guide to gathering materials for features, novels, and non-fiction books (Oxford, 2000)
6. Mahwah, N. J., Qualitative Research in Journalism (Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004)
7. Randall, David, The Universal Journalist (Pluto, 2007)
8. Ritter, Robert M. ed., The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors (2nd ed) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
9. Ritter, Robert M. ed., The Oxford Guide to Style (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
10. Roorbach, Bill, Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: the Art of Truth (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)

11. Vitruvius, The Ten Books of Architecture (New York: Dover)
12. Waterhouse, Keith, Waterhouse on Newspaper Style (Revel Barker, 2010)