This course considers the shared obsessions of both Surrealism and architecture in the 20th century, with special focus on the Americas. While the canonical modernity appealed to arguments of rationality and function, it was also fascinated in the strange, uncanny, and disquieting. Such strategies were theorized by the Surrealists and their follower and renegade groups. In turn, Surrealism sought to engage the built environment, as both a medium for creativity and trace of the mental life of the modern wanderer. This relationship formed a particularly strong hold in the Americas, both a common obsession and destination. In examining these various overlaps, we expand the understanding of modern art and architecture beyond discourses of abstraction and rationality.

HISTART Category for Concentration Distribution: D. Europe and the US, E. Latin American and the Caribbean, 4. Modern and Contemporary.