Ideas in Urbanism

3 units

Although the form of cities has reflected the planned and unplanned patterns of human habitation for thousands of years, the origin of the Western urban design discourse officially starts with the 1956 conference intended to discuss the fate of architects in the formation of cities. That fate is still negotiated across the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and planning, as is the very role and definition of what urban design is and what urban designers do. This course explores the critical ideas and seminal texts that define this urban design discourse with a particular emphasis on the proliferation of numerous urbanisms grappling with 21st-century visions of technology, temporality, environmentalism and justice. Grounded in big ideas and critical readings, Ideas in Urbanism explores the world views and intellectual lineages of authors and their seminal texts in an effort to understand how the production, reproduction, contestation, and creation of urban ideas and the cities they produce has led to urbanism now, and to speculate on where urbanism might be tomorrow. This course is open to all MArch, MLA and MUD students. Undergraduates may enroll with permission. MUD students have priority. Students will be enrolled from the waitlist.