This seminar is about cities and the role of urban design in their emergence, consolidation, transformation, and mediation over time. Learning from the histories, movements, policies, actors, and outcomes behind selected urban design projects, we will expose some of the driving forces shaping cities globally. The purpose is to develop a relational approach to the study of cities and urban projects that considers a multiplicity of disciplinary lenses and urbanistic traditions. The course will host conversations with guest speakers and bring students outside of the classroom (COVID permitting!) as we aim to expand the narratives, voices, and ways of experiencing and learning from the city.
The semester will be structured around three main components:
- The Atlas: class participants will co-curate+produce A Contingent Atlas of Cities. Building on selected sources we will approach the study of cities as multicultural constructs. The curation will include the definition of a collective framework and the selection of a subset of thematic lenses, a working taxonomy, a glossary, and research on a city.
- The Case: building on the Atlas, we will approach the city as a project to develop a case study and situate it in the city of study and its larger cultural context.
- The Colloquium: class participants will host the guest speakers and moderate the presentation and subsequent conversation.
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