This elective seminar takes as its point of inquiry the social construction of race and its expression in the built environment. Together we will examine the ways in which conceptions of racial difference have shaped and been shaped by architecture and urbanism. We will draw on global case studies from the early modern period to the present to interrogate how constructions of race—and the resultant hierarchies of power—have been articulated, replicated, and challenged in the built environment across time and space.
A close analysis of texts, visual culture, built spaces, and lived experiences will guide our study of the impact of racial thinking on architecture, cities, and their histories. In the process, we will contend with a range of theoretical frameworks that illuminate the intertwined relationship between racialized bodies and buildings. How might the lessons of our inquiry encourage us—as designers and architectural historians—to reimagine our practices?
