Architecture 654 Home

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Syllabus

Objectives:

During the course of this semester we wll identify and study those attributes of urban form (past and present) which, when thoroughly understood, will better prepare us to plan and design cities, sections of cities, and urban places and buildings in the future. We will analyze a number of antecendents of modern urban form, evaluating them not only from an historian's perspective, but also from our own personal points of view. The student will be encouraged to share and communicate his/her own visual, perceptual experiences and attitudes through the class discussions and his/her individual class project.

We will discuss the patterns and processes in which cities have developed, the techniques of planning and designing for urban growth, some idealized concepts of urban form, and a few of the tools presently used by urban designers, planners, and architects to achieve design success. It is expected that the urban design and planning vocabulary will become an active part of your everyday speech and that you will apply these tools to your future design solutions.

This course will cover:

1. Definitions, examples and theories of urban form and space
2. Visual and physical perception of the built environment
3. Historic review of the city (past, present, future)
4. Idealized, theoretical, and utopian views of the city
5. Current urban planning and design tools, vocabulary, projects

Structure:

This course will meet three times weekly (Tues & Thurs) from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in room 1103, Architecture Building. Generally, the schedule will be divided between lectures and class discussions/analyses. There will be two one-hour examinations, a final examination and a student project/paper. Although roll will not be taken in this course, there might be unannounced quizzes to encourage regular attendance.

Grading:

All work of the student will be graded; late work will be penalized. The final examination, the two one-hour examinations and the unannounced quizzes will draw their subject matter from material covered in the lectures, the readings, the website and the student discussios and analyses. The final examination will constitute 30% of the final grade, the two one-hour examinations 40% and the student project/paper and quizzes 30%.