4.175 | Fall 2005 | Graduate

Case Studies in City Form

Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: Two sessions / week, 3 hours / session

Course Description

This course is intended as an introduction to urban form and design. It is more analytical than synthetic and will concentrate on the physical and social form of the city.

Selected cities will be the subject of this semester’s study. The cities will be analyzed, drawn, and compared to other cities in order to develop a working understanding of urban and architectural form (i.e. building and block types, fields, edges, streets, squares, monuments, gardens, etc.).

The development of map making and urban representation will be discussed, and use of the computer will be required. There will be special focus on the historical development of the city. There will be related required readings on urban design theory in the twentieth century in addition to the individual investigations.

This course is also open to MCP students with some background in architecture.