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Duration
Identical coursesTheory and Practice of Urbanism since 1945 (B-KUL-H02L4A)
Aims
By explaining the main currents of thought that have affected the theory and practice of urban planning and design since the reconstruction after the Second World War, the ambition is to create an awareness of the urban paradigms that have played a role in shaping the city in the western hemisphere since the end of the second world war. The emphasis lies on urbanism, not on urbanization. Design concepts that have inspired the discipline of urbanism are critically investigated, and their incidence on practice is discussed by examining representative projects and interventions. This analysis of how the idea filters through in practice, but also of how the experience of city making affects theory, is intended to help the student assess his/her own concepts related to the formation of cities in a more comprehensive frame.
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Ex cathedra explanations, mainly directed towards the comprehensive interpretation of currents and ideas. Intensive use of drawings, sketches and photographs is strongly advocated here, in view of clarifying notions that otherwise might remain too abstract.
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Group seminar discussions around presentations by students of selected texts or projects highlighting particular themes that are addressed in the ex cathedra explanation. The intention is here to clarify by focusing on the particular example and help to understand the latter as a part of a more general theory. Because of the format, personal intervention on the part of the student is stimulated, with the aim of spelling out what may be the precise problem of understanding that remains.
Previous knowledge
Knowledge about the historical development of the European city and /or the history of urbanism prior to the second world war is recommended
Is included in these courses of study
- Master in de ingenieurswetenschappen: architectuur (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master in de ingenieurswetenschappen: architectuur (Leuven) (Stedelijk project) 120 ects.
- Courses for Exchange Students Faculty of Engineering Science (Leuven)
- Master of Conservation of Monuments and Sites (Leuven) 90 ects.
- Master of Mobility and Supply Chain Engineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Urbanism, Landscape and Planning (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Human Settlements (Leuven) 60 ects.
Activities
3 ects. Theory and Practice of Urbanism since 1945: Lecture (B-KUL-H02L4a)
Content
- The impact of the modern movement on post war urban planning: overview of the main conceptual frames, their basic argumentation and their origin and evolution since the thirties. The inventory of prevailing design schemes, their application in practice and their incidence on the different scale levels. The different evolution within Europe, the US and the experimental innovation in the colonies.
- The search for identity: overview of the theoretical insights focusing on the meaning of place and the image of the city in Europe and the U.S.
- Different sources of criticism against the modern movement: the sociological response and the reaction of Team X. The consensus around of a new attitude identifying choice and diversity as means for enhancing personal affinity with the urban space.
- The city as a mega-structure versus the formal abstraction of existing urban models: two basic attitudes of combining an overall structure with a changeable infill. Evaluation of the difference between both attitudes. Discussion of the practical implications of both visions on the various scale levels by comparing relevant examples in different countries.
- The distinction of another modern tradition as founding concept for the urban project. The principle of the strategic project that encompasses and gears the urban transformation: the origins of this concept and its shifting interpretations manifested by its main protagonists. Discussion of main tendencies using illustrative examples.
- The return to nostalgia: overview of the theories and city projects aiming at the reconstruction of what used to be the city. Different forms of this tendency in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
- The advent of the nebulous town: discussion of the socio-economic forces that made the compact city disintegrate. Subsequent changes in behavioral patterns and the shift towards new forms of centrality. The generative form of the new urban territory and its differentiation according to circumstances: an overview of the ongoing analyses and the interpretations.
- Strategies for urban coherence in the new condition of urbanity: selection of archetypical projects with the intention of assessing contemporary design attitudes, such as insertion, sublimation, substitution, artificial topography, ecological remediation, and metaphors like puzzle, domino, carpet, etc.
1 ects. Theory and Practice of Urbanism since 1945: Seminar Discussions (B-KUL-H02L5a)
Content
- The impact of the modern movement on post war urban planning: overview of the main conceptual frames, their basic argumentation and their origin and evolution since the thirties. The inventory of prevailing design schemes, their application in practice and their incidence on the different scale levels. The different evolution within Europe, the US and the experimental innovation in the colonies.
- The search for identity: overview of the theoretical insights focusing on the meaning of place and the image of the city in Europe and the U.S.
- Different sources of criticism against the modern movement: the sociological response and the reaction of Team X. The consensus around of a new attitude identifying choice and diversity as means for enhancing personal affinity with the urban space.
- The city as a mega-structure versus the formal abstraction of existing urban models: two basic attitudes of combining an overall structure with a changeable infill. Evaluation of the difference between both attitudes. Discussion of the practical implications of both visions on the various scale levels by comparing relevant examples in different countries.
- The distinction of another modern tradition as founding concept for the urban project. The principle of the strategic project that encompasses and gears the urban transformation: the origins of this concept and its shifting interpretations manifested by its main protagonists. Discussion of main tendencies using illustrative examples.
- The return to nostalgia: overview of the theories and city projects aiming at the reconstruction of what used to be the city. Different forms of this tendency in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
- The advent of the nebulous town: discussion of the socio-economic forces that made the compact city disintegrate. Subsequent changes in behavioral patterns and the shift towards new forms of centrality. The generative form of the new urban territory and its differentiation according to circumstances: an overview of the ongoing analyses and the interpretations.
- Strategies for urban coherence in the new condition of urbanity: selection of archetypical projects with the intention of assessing contemporary design attitudes, such as insertion, sublimation, substitution, artificial topography, ecological remediation, and metaphors like puzzle, domino, carpet, etc.
Evaluation
Evaluation: Theory and Practice of Urbanism since 1945 (B-KUL-H22L4a)
Explanation
Based on Paper