Urban and Architecture History: Industry, Construction, Modernity, Domesticity

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course explores the historical development of Western cities, examining how industry, construction, modernity, and domesticity shaped the built environment in the 19th and 20th centuries from a global perspective. The course deals primarily with North American and European cities. The course examines the impact of politics, society, and technological transfer on urban development and architecture. Politics and the economy have shaped concepts of planning, standardization, and urban environment. We will explore the industry through detail, standardization, prefabrication, and style. The course will analyze the history of construction, technologies, and global vs local architecture. Students will gain an understanding of the development of modernity by considering the theory of modernism and the works of modernist architects, the ideology of a new socialist modernity, and post-modernist cityscapes. Finally, the course explores the built environment and the creation of domesticity at the interplay of home, neighborhood, community, social housing, and the collective, emphasizing the value of global habitat through the lens of industrial production and construction. The course comprises the workshops History of Architecture Beyond the Classroom: Archival materials study; Special Collections materials study; Talks with invited speakers.