building cities/urban design seminar · 2021. 1. 6. · spring 2021 building cities/urban design...

SPRING2021

BUILDING CITIES/URBAN DESIGN SEMINARPolitical Space: Regime, Manner, and Urban Form

ARCH 4034 CRN: 10941 (Undergraduate Students)ARCH 5624 CRN: 22101 (Graduate Students)

Monday 7:15pm – 10:00pmDavid Lever

“How can I give a name of city to a group of houses without a theater, or agora, or agymnasium?”

- Pausanias, Description of Greece

The public realm was simultaneously stimulated and attenuated by the events of2020. We saw mass protests against social injustice and volatile rallies surroundinga tumultuous election. Concurrently, empty streets, squares, and stadiums gavevivid evidence of how the pandemic forced much of what is considered public life –socializing and shopping, meetings, musical performances, schools and evenreligious services – into private spaces and a novel and etherealized electronicrealm. This puzzling alteration cannot fail to have long term implications for howwe think of public space.

Where does this leave "the public square," the metaphorical realm wheremembers of the public engage with one another, where certain types of publicbehavior are nurtured, and where important ideas are aired? The expressionsuggests an alignment between the political discourse that occurs in themetaphorical "public square" and the political events that take place in thephysical space of the city square, street, and other places.

With the interiorization of public life and the ascendancy of electroniccommunications, we are forced to ask:

SPRING2021

BUILDING CITIES/UD SEMINAR, CONT.

Can political life exist apart from physical public space? What political actions continue to require public space, and for what

purposes? What is the role of the designer in making urban spaces that accommodate

the full range of political culture: the symbolic intentions of governors, thefunctional needs of governance, and the expression of the community's will?

In this course, we will ask how urban spaces have historically accommodatedpolitical culture, and specifically about the status of political space today. We willcompare the characteristics of urban life and urban spaces in three distinctivetypes of political regime: aristocracy-monarchy, totalitarian dictatorship, andliberal democracy. These regimes are based, respectively, on rank; on thecollective; and on egalitarian liberalism. The citizens of these regimes exhibitdistinctively different manners – attitudes, inclinations, behaviors and habits – allof which are on display in, and are cultivated by, public places.

We will consider a timely question: What specifically is democratic public space?How can the design of urban space nurture democratic manners and supportdemocratic processes in an era when its institutions are embattled, and the vitalityof the public realm is simultaneously eroded by multiple forces?

Coursework will consist of presentations, class discussion, in-class sketchexercises, and a semester paper.

Course texts will include selections from The City Shaped: Urban Patterns andMeanings Through History and The City Assembled: The Elements of Urban FormThrough History by Spiro Kostof; Social Formation and Symbolic Landscape by DenisCosgrove; The City as a Work of Art: London, Paris, Vienna by Donald Olson, andother works.

SPRING2021

IDEAS, CONCEPTS, AND REPRESENTATIONSOF ARCHITECTURE

ARCH 4114 CRN: 22093 (Undergraduate Students Only!)

Tuesday 1:30pm – 4:00pmEric J. Jenkins

This course will survey of the interrelationship between ideas, concepts, andrepresentations. Particular emphasis will be given to ideational constructs andhow they have been adapted in the analysis and synthesis of the designedenvironment. We will consider the role of visual and written representations withinthe context of seminal concepts and buildings. Each week, we’ll introduce a topicvia seminal texts that describe, challenge, develop, and analyze the designedenvironment and representational methods.

The course will consist of lectures, discussions, and representational exercises.Lectures will introduce relevant concepts and artifacts; discussions will allow forcritical debate; and weekly graphic and written assignments will encourage furtherunderstanding and synthesis of topics. Overall, the course's pedagogy andmethodology are designed to engage and develop design thinking through variedlearning styles and allow a broad synthesis of architectural ideas, practices, andrepresentations.

Students will be responsible for producing representations such as diagrams,freehand sketches and collages, as well as concise written statements that will helpthem link “what is” to “what might be.”

SPRING2021

ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM SEMINARRe-presenting Modern Architectural Texts

ARCH 5706 CRN: 11100

Tuesday 4:15pm – 7:00pmMarcia Feuerstein and Paul Emmons

The second semester of Architecture and Urbanism will include playful yet precisereadings of architecture and urbanism treatises written during the ‘Modern” era ofarchitectural practice: from the 18th through the 21st centuries. This course willlook in two directions. In one, we will survey the tradition of architects as authorsand designers within urban, cultural, and traditional contexts that ground theirpractice and their worlds. In the other, we will puzzle over the topics ofarchitectural design, theory, and interpretation revealed through these texts.Theoretical texts frame the everyday practice of professional architecture andreveal a unique window that distinguishes particular and often peculiar points ofview. These texts, both written and image-based, will invite interpretive and playfulexamination of implied world-views that will introduce and restate questions andtopics that historically have enlivened architectural theory. These treatises,grounded in past practice, will guide us to puzzle into future architecturaldiscourse and design.

SPRING2021

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN DESIGNRevit


Tuesday 4:15pm – 7:00pmSamer Bitar

Computer Applications in Design will focus on concepts of BIM (BuildingInformation Modeling) and develop beginner- to intermediate-level skills requiredto utilize this software as a designer. We will integrate BIM into the design processby teaching methods of design, analysis, and production that complimentmethods used in the academic studio and professional practice.

The course will be structured as a series of workshop-style lectures with relatedtutorial assignments and a final project presentation showcasing each student’sdesign project as developed in Autodesk Revit software.

SPRING2021

MEDIA AND ENVIRONMENTPrintmaking


Tuesday 7:15pm – 10:00pm (First Meeting) Subsequent Meeting Times to Be Arranged with Professor

Matt Dreher

WE ARE A LAB! A place providing the opportunity for experimentation andobservation. We are in a city of politics, partisanship, and culture. How can weboth challenge ourselves and find common ground? This course will take placeremotely and be taught in three acts.

Act 1: Getting Back to Basics - We will learn the basics of linoblock printing, colortheory, and printmaking history.

Act 2: Printmaking R&D - We will learn about other artists, other techniques, andhow to both research and present our work.

Act 3: Applied Research - Utilization!

In the past, students have learned a range of printmaking styles including variousetching techniques, wood block carving, and silk-screening as part of this course.We encourage students to follow their particular passions and apply thosepassions into meaningful work. Throughout the semester, students will use theInstagram handle vtwaac_printmaking to showcase their current progress.

No prior printmaking experience is required.

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PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

ARCH 4044 CRN: 10943 (Undergraduate Students)ARCH 5044G CRN: 11067 (Graduate Students)

Wednesday 7:15pm – 10:00pmRandall Mars

This course will cover the basic elements of professional architectural practice,from marketing to product delivery. We will discuss the history of the profession,noting how the industry has developed through time. We will also review officeorganization and operation, as well as how to establish relationships withassociated professionals, including engineers, consultants, contractors, andowners.

We will review construction document delivery options, procedures and clientservices, marketing, and fees. We will also gain an understanding of legal mattersand professional ethics. Finally, by seeing our designs through to fruition, we willreview the role of the architect during construction and the many relationshipsinvolved in that process.

Guests to the class will include general contractors, owners, representatives,engineers, and attorneys, all of whom will share their views of the profession.

Students will be required to complete a series of exercises and encouraged toparticipate in class lectures and discussions. Midterm and final exams will teststudents’ comprehensive understanding.

SPRING2021

PRODUCT DESIGN


Wednesday 6:00pm – 6:45pm (First Meeting/Information Session)Subsequent Meeting Times to Be Arranged with ProfessorRyan Pieper

Product Design students will embark on an intensive study of making via a seriesof design, prototyping, and construction projects based on individual designinitiatives. Students will have the opportunity to engage in the full spectrum ofconstructive thinking, from conception and drawing to modeling, execution, andreflection. By making, we will come to better see that which is made, both byourselves and by others.

The course will utilize shop demonstrations, workshops, and relevant readings tofurther design sensibility. This will be a very demanding class and students shouldbe prepared to allocate appropriate time outside of class toward the productionand prototyping of projects. The majority of formal meeting time will center onpresentation, critique, and technical help. Students will be evaluated on theirparticipation and personal initiative, as well as on their contributions during pin-ups and seminar discussions.

* This class will be structured to support both online and in-person instruction, oreven a mixture of both. This course is open to students of all skill levels andprevious shop experience is not required.

SPRING2021

HISTORY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

LAR 5334 CRN: 20992

Thursday 9:30am – 12:15pmPaul Kelsch

This course will examine the development of landscape architecture across majortime periods and places. We’ll view important landscapes within various contextsin order to shed light on the cultures that produced them and to show the deephistorical roots of current ideas about landscape. The contexts we’ll examine willinclude philosophical and theoretical ideas about design; cultural practices thatshape how different social groups view landscape; changing ideas about natureand its expression in designed landscapes; and the formation and habitation ofurban landscapes. The course will take the form of an online seminar based ondiscussion of extensive readings, including both primary and secondary sources.

SPRING2021

TOPICS IN DESIGN METHODSImagination Through Making


Thursday 1:30pm – 4:00pmMilia Boroyevich

Whether designing a sculpture, a chair, or a skyscraper, our considerations are thesame: how the object touches the ground, how it touches the sky and what’s in-between.

Concepts and ideas derive from endless sources ranging from knowledge tonature to materials to the act of making itself. We’ll explore how recent dramaticchanges in our understanding of the universe – new concepts of time and space;the ability to see the invisible through X-ray machines or MRIs; wirelesscommunications – manifest in considerations such as phenomenal transparency,negative space, and (im)materiality in design.

The course will consist of lectures on design principles and materials throughprojects in architecture, art installations, and sculptures, as well as quick in-classexercises to explore various materials and concepts. We will consider the completeprocess of making a sculpture, including the selection of stone, the design, carving,polishing, and display. Students will select one sculptor and one architect to studyand present to the class. Overall, we will ask a lot of questions and try to findscholarly answers.

SPRING2021

COMPARATIVE URBANISM

ARCH 5644 CRN: 11098

Thursday 4:15pm – 7:00pmScott Archer

Minneapolis and St Paul. Chicago and New York. Paris and Buenos Aires.Washington and Darmstadt? We inevitably compare cities: they often come inpairs as twins, rivals, siblings, or offspring, in terms of form, culture, and power. Inthis seminar, we will deepen our experience of cities, augmenting personalknowledge with research to share the ways in which cities are alike and different.

This year, we are excited to partner with the Department of Architecture ofTechnische Universitat Darmstadt (TUDa). Students and faculty from bothuniversities will collaborate to design, develop, and compare Washington, DC andDarmstadt, Germany, focusing on the broad categories of accessibility and use ofpublic space. Students will work in teams composed of peers from bothuniversities to develop a collaborative research project and presentationcomparing spaces in each city.

The course will take the format of a true seminar focused on academic discussionof assigned short readings, contemporary urban issues, student projects, andlectures from both Darmstadt and WAAC faculty. We will conduct regularsynchronous hybrid meetings (in a virtual format, with the possibility of optionalin-person participation for WAAC students), along with some asynchronousresearch group collaboration.

This class is required for all M.Arch and Urban Design students, and available toothers with instructor approval. Please note: the scheduled course time will shift to9:00am approximately four times during the semester to collaborate withDarmstat.

SPRING2021

TOPICS IN ARCH HISTORY AND THEORYAttunement: Sustainable SensationsAir as Music and Atmosphere in Architecture


Thursday 7:15pm – 10:00pmGolnar Ahmadi and Negar Goljan

Left to Right: Story of Architecture and Music, Story of Air and Architecture , Story of Music and Air

This course will survey the interrelation between air, music, and architecture byexamining terms such as “atmosphere,” “Stimmung,” and “spiritus.” Making visiblethe otherwise invisible discussions around air and atmosphere in architecture, wewill explore how absence can register as presence in the same way that musicalpieces practice a silent/sound dialectic. Like a musical instrument, the architecturalspace can create a harmonic atmosphere through the dynamic relationshipbetween internal and external air. At this intersection of music and architecture,harmony modulates atmosphere and attunement.

The intellectual work of the seminar will lean heavily on seminal texts fromphilosophers, architects, poets, and musicians, all of which will serve to construct a

SPRING2021

TOPICS IN ARCH HISTORY/THEORY, CONT. lens through which to view the potential for an attuned architecture. Throughvarious lectures, discussions, and exercises, we will examine both concepts andmade-things/artifacts to develop an understanding of the aerial qualities thatpromote overall spirited well-being, at the same time as inducing sensations andemotions. Explorations and discussions will foster a deeper understanding of theconcordance between building, world, and body.

At the end of the semester, students will present their demonstration ofatmospheric thinking to the group, along with the two other assignmentsshowcasing their case study – a musically-influenced architectural design – andtheir collective responses to each week’s topic.

SPRING2021

PHD SEMINARTheory of Practice: Practice of Theory


Friday 10:00am – 12:30pmPaul Emmons

This advanced seminar will develop critical thinking, reading and writing skills withtexts on the philosophy of architecture drawn from a variety of sources. We willselect specific readings for the semester, and all participants will actively engage indiscussion. A series of invited guests will present their research to the group, andstudents will also present their own research. Final grades will be based on classparticipation and the development or expansion of a final project, which mayinclude a written paper and interpretive drawing.

building cities/urban design seminar · 2021. 1. 6. · spring 2021 building cities/urban design...

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