Cities, Landscapes, and Design in the Age of Pandemics

This is a course about design and public health. Over the course of the semester, we will examine design proposals by architects, landscape architects, and urban planners which respond to a range of concerns about public space and public health. As a part of our study, we will explore topics including urban planning, and policy strategies proposed by Olmsted, Howard, Burnham, le Corbusier to address to fears about urban density, immigration, and contagion; the effect of treatment protocols for infectious diseases like tuberculosis (hygiene, fresh air, sunlight) on the evolution of the work of designers including Aalto, Neutra, Eames, and others.