The course takes the material reality of the urban phenomenon as a starting point and looks at its history through different lenses. Various historiographies exist with respect to the urban dimensions of 'time', 'space', 'technic', 'actors' and 'meaning'. Each of these dimensions will be dealt with in their historical logic, showing how they produce divers ways of understanding the evolution of the city, the changing configuration of the urban environment, the impact of evolving technology, the signification of buildings, the visions of urbanism, etc. The course will be mainly about the 18th, 19th and 20th century with some views into earlier times. Focusing on comprehensive cases presented in a comparative perspective, the course aims at offering critical tools and topics as an introduction to urban history as well as to the historical layers of present times. Students will participate actively in the analysis, use and development of these tools.
Petra SAMAHA,Pieter UYTTENHOVE
Cours magistral seul
English
Apart from attending classes, the workload also includes some obligatory readings and working on individual and collective tasks, amounting to 50% on top of the class time.
None.
Autumn 2021-2022
The course weight is 4 credits.
The final grade is the result of a weighting between two tests, an individual work based on a personal reflection on the history of the material city, and a group work of four to six students on urban historiography based on a historical text or representation. Work in progress of every group will be discussed once collectively.
Course of 12 classes of 2 hours, consisting of 10 regular lectures, one guest lecture, one site visit. The course is structured around five thematical parts (time, space, technics, actors, meaning). During class time, student groups will give short presentations of their work in progress which will be collectively commented and discussed.
Benevolo, Leonardo. 1980. The history of the city. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.