Between Architecture and Infrastructure (2020)

ARCU4801-2020: Selected Topics in Urbanism: Urban Systems – Nature Technology and Health //
Instructor: Catherine Bonier //

This seminar investigates the relationship between the themes of landscape, technology, and health. Students will evaluate the ways in which the dialog between these 3 forces shape the growth and design of cities. Water is one of the central elements of this inquiry, weaving together these themes and linking basic sustenance with the highest cultural aspirations. Students will learn from past and contemporary urban challenges, and evolving hopes for safety, equity, democracy, freedom, power, and beauty.

This class demands independent intellectual effort and engagement on the part of students. Weekly readings will challenge students to grasp complex urban issues past and present. From this perspective, students will be required to develop their own questions and ideas. Final projects require that students research, document, and understand the challenges of a specific city, in order re-imagine an innovative, improved future based on the realities of that place.