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Anthony Raynsford PhD - University of Chicago / M.Arch. - UCLA

Assistant Professor

San José State University School of Art and Design

Anthony Raynsford is an architectural and urban design historian, whose interdisciplinary research interests bridge across cultural, intellectual and art history, particularly of the 20th century. His teaching seeks to develop a critical understanding of the interlocking social and aesthetic issues faced by architects and designers, both currently and historically. Professor Raynsford's current book project is entitled, Modernism and the Archaic City: The Pre-Industrial Past in the Imagination of 20th Century Urban Design. Related to this project are also a number of works in progress, including a monograph on the writings of urban planner, Kevin Lynch.

Research

Book Project

Modernism and the Archaic City: The Pre-Industrial Past in the Imagination of 20th Century Urban Design Criticizing the apparent chaos of the present, many architects and planners of the twentieth century imagined a coherent order in the archaic cities of the preindustrial past. Moreover, they employed detailed examples of preindustrial urban forms in order to address what they saw as the most urgent problems of contemporary cities. Surprisingly however, few historians have commented on this phenomenon. Revising standard accounts of modernism’s break with history, Professor Raynsford maps out previously submerged connections among the images and discourses of urban design. He argues that the modernist idealization of archaic form was central to the genesis and definition of the modernist city.

Dissertation

Sites of Lost Dwelling: The Figure of the Archaic City in the Discourses of Urban Design, 1938-70. Abstract of Dissertation.

Table of Contents. for Dissertation.

Previous Work

“Swarm of the Metropolis.”Article published in JAE.

“Mirrors within the Wall: Enlightenment Authority and the Dialectics of Visual Desire in
Ledoux’s Project for the Saline de Chaux.” Article published in Chicago Art Journal.

More Details

CURRICULUM VITAE: CV Updated 7/21/08, also available as pdf.

Teaching

Current and Recent Courses at SJSU

Art History 72 - Design in Society. Undergraduate introduction to the theories and practices of design, including industrial design, graphic design and interior architecture.
Art History 160 - Modern Architecture: 1750-Present. Survey of architecture in the contexts of social, technological and aesthetic modernity.
Art 201 - Professional Writing in Contemporary Art. A Graduate seminar in writing artist statements, exibition catalogs and art criticism.
Art 282B - Empathy and Embodiment in Contemporary Art. A Graduate seminar in theoretical approaches to contemporary art.

Courses Previously Taught

Syllabus: Representing the Twentieth Century Metropolis: Architecture, Painting, Film. Undergraduate seminar exploring urban representations across various media.
Syllabus: Athens / Babylon: Images and Metaphors of the American City. Freshman Seminar.
Art History 328/W300 - Modern Architecture: 1750-Present. Survey of architecture in the contexts of social, technological and aesthetic modernity.
Syllabus: American Architecture. Art History 152 - Survey of American Architecture, 1650-Present.
Syllabus: Art Heritage of the Western World II. CO56 - Survey of Western Art, 1350-Present .
Syllabus: Philadelphia Architecture and Urbanism. Art History 404 - Seminar on the History of Philadephia's Built Environment, 1682-Present.
Syllabus: The 20th Century Metropolis: Theory and Representation. Advanced Graduate Seminar on Theories of the Metropolis and Its Visual Forms.
Syllabus: Empathy, Experience, and the Body in Art Historical Discourse. Advanced Graduate Seminar on Historiographic and Theoretical Problems in Art History.
Syllabus: Public Art in 20th Century Urban Space. Graduate Seminar on the interactions of public art and urban design.

Architecture Resources

Bay Area Archives

U.C. Berkeley Environmental Design Archives. A research collection of many important Bay Area architects and landscape architects.
U.C. Berkeley Environmental Design Library Bay Area Architecture: Resources. The Environmental Design Library contains an extensive archive on local architects and buildings, especially 20th century.
History San José. Contains extensive references to the history of the built environment.
Silicon Valley History online. Contains downloadable digital images of historical buildings.
The Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, UCB. Contains oral histories of several Bay Area architects.
San Francisco Architectural Heritage. Landmarks organization for San Francisco.
Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association Landmarks organization for Berkeley.
Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey. Ongoing survey of Oakland buildings.

Bay Area Architectural Organizations

Preservation Action Council of San Jose. One of the largest preservation groups in the city.
City of San Jose Preservation Department. Organization which tracks and documents local landmarks.
Victorian Preservation Association of Santa Clara Valley. Organization specializing in local Victorian heritage.
American Institute of Architects, Santa Clara Valley Chapter. South Bay chapter of the national professional organization.
American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter. San Francisco chapter of the national professional organization.

National and International Architectural Resources

Society of Architectural Historians. This is the major American organization for architectural historians.
National Historic Landmarks. Nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior.
Historic American Buildings Survey. Started in 1933, this electronic database contains numerous drawings and documents of historic American buildings.
Canadian Centre for Architecture. The Canadian Centre for Architecture is one of the largest research centers for architectural history and theory. It has a useful catalog.
Royal Institute of Architects (RIBA) Library. This is one of the main architectural resources in Britain and also has a very useful catalog.

Anthony Raynsford
E-mail: Anthony.Raynsford@sjsu.edu
Last Modified: 9/11/08