Territorial Contexts

3 units

The scope of planning operations has steadily widened over the course of the twentieth century, from metropolitan areas to expansive natural and cultural regions. At the same time, designers have increasingly aimed to synthesize vastly complex data in order to analyze project sites and their wider contexts. This course examines the ongoing intersection of geography and design, through analytical methods combining spatial measure with demographic, environmental, and economic data. Students will build on the lineage of geographical inquiry in planning, from Cerda and Haussmann to the theories of Patrick Geddes; from Lewis Mumford, Benton MacKaye, and Clarence Steins' Regional Planning Association of American to CIAM; and from the experiments of Buckminster Fuller to the ecological determinism of Ian McHarg. In addition to responding to weekly readings, students will revisit large-scale analytical works through new methods of mapping and modelling.