LA 3810 - Elusive Configurations: Spatial and Aesthetic Factors in City-Making

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Co-meets with LA 5810.

J. Foster.

What is a “good city,” and how do you make one? There is no straightforward answer to these questions; cities are extremely diverse, and making them involves the physical design of the whole or parts of the built fabric, and the strategic orchestration through policy and planning of systems and infrastructures. While they may seem reassuringly material, in reality cities are the outcome of the dynamic interaction between multiple forces over time. This course explores the natural, cultural, social, economic, and political factors that have historically shaped urban form, and how these are always intertwined with the ways of representing urban space. It also explores ways architects, planners, landscape architects, geographers, environmentalists and cultural critics propose we might make cities that better reflect contemporary realities.

Outcome 1: Students will learn the basic constituent elements of urban space and some of the common spatial typologies found in cities.

Outcome 2: Students will learn the difference and relationship between ‘process’, ‘form’ and ‘content’ in urban design.

Outcome 3: Students will learn some of the ways by which individuals experience and comprehend the city.

Outcome 4: Students will learn some of the ways groups physically, socially and imaginatively claim and use urban space.

Outcome 5: Students will learn some of the ways urban space encodes symbolic meanings and ideological values.

Outcome 6: Students will learn some of the historically significant theories and projects that have shaped the design of cities.

Outcome 7: Students will learn some of the key thinkers and texts that have shaped this evolution.

Outcome 8: Students will learn some of the natural, cultural and technological systems influencing the spatial configuration of cities.

Outcome 9: Students will learn some of the mechanisms that shape and control urban design and development.