ARCH 509, Section 8

‘Politics of Balance’ introduces students in the awareness of the role that architecture plays as a precondition for political, cultural, and social engagement in the city. Following a process of analysis of the space of the city, its extensive organization, its different users and its government, the seminar will require that all students work through the study of precedents toward the exploration of the architectural project as an urban mediator and political form. The students will research spatial strategies to test architecture’s capacity for hosting programs and anticipating scenarios able to channel accumulated tension in the public realm.