COURSE SYLLABUS
Department of History
Course No. _IU306_
Perspectives on Urban Design
Revision_____ New__X___
I.
Catalog Description and Credit Hours of Course:
A study of the design of the human built environment.
3 credit hours.
II.
Interdisciplinary Nature of the Course:
“Perspectives on Urban Design” will integrate subject matter and approaches to
Developing Perspectives on Human Institutions from the areas of “development
of a major civilization” and “social systems.” This course will also integrate
material relating to Individual Expression by examining the ways in which artistic
expression has been an important component in the design of the human built
environment.
III.
Prerequisites:
Students should have completed their basic University Studies Core, especially
the Development of a Major Civilization, Social Systems, and Artistic Expression,
and have junior standing.
IV.
Purposes or Objectives of the Course:
A.
To introduce students to various aspects of the design of the built
environment and of the power of place in our lives. (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
B.
To place the design of the built environment within a general historical
context in order to provide students with a perspective on why we build
cities in the manner in which we do. (4, 5, 6, 8, 9)
C.
To foster an understanding of how the human built environment is shaped
by the interplay of political, social, economic, and cultural factors. (2, 4, 6,
8, 9)
D.
To teach the historical method as a means of critical thinking and to assist
students in the application of this perspective to major trends in the design
of the built environment. (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
V.
E.
To assist students in making connections and drawing together disparate
materials and experiences with reference to the University Studies
objectives. (2)
F.
To foster the development of oral and written communication through
class discussions and written projects. (1, 3)
Expectations of Students:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
VI.
Regular class attendance.
Participation in class discussion.
Reading all materials assigned.
Timely completion of all written and oral assignments, including a
research paper.
Demonstration of mastery of course content on examinations.
Demonstration of computer skills in word processing and location of
information.
Students must abide by the university's policies regarding both attendance
and academic honesty as outlined in the student handbook. Penalties for
academic dishonesty range from failing the assignment and/or failing the
course to expulsion from the University.
Course Outline:
I.
Theory and Practice of Urban Design (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9)
A. Context of Urban Design
1. Urban Design Today
2. Urban Change
B. Multiple Dimensions of Urban Design
1. Morphological, Perceptual, Social Dimensions
2. Visual, Functional, Temporal Dimensions
C. Urban Design in Practice
II.
6 hours
3 hours
Reading the Built Environment (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8)
A. Reading the Built Environment
B. Vernacular Landscapes
III.
3 hours
3 hours
6 hours
Experiencing Place (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8)
A. Urban Places
B. Rural Places
C. The Future of Place in America
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3 hours
3 hours
3 hours
IV.
The Power of Place (2, 5, 6, 7, 8)
V.
Global Perspectives on the Built Environment (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8)
A. North American Cities
B. Latin American Cities
C. European Cities
1. Paris
2. London
3. Rome
D. Asian Cities
1. Tokyo
2. Hong Kong
6 hours
2 hours
1 hour
3 hours
3 hours
VII. Textbooks:
Public Places - Urban Spaces, by Matthew Carmona, Steven Tiesdell, Tim Heath,
Taner Oc. Publisher: Architectural Press (February, 2003)
Close-Up : How to Read the American City, by Grady Clay. Publisher: University
of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (April 15, 1980)
Everyday America: Cultural Landscape Studies after J. B. Jackson, by Chris
Wilson, Paul Erling Groth. Publisher: University of California Press (March 1,
2003)
The Power of Place, by Winifred Gallagher. Perennial Currents; Reprint edition
(March 16, 1994)
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, by
Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jeff Speck. Publisher: North Point Press
(April 1, 2001)
VIII. Basis of Student Evaluation:
A. Class Participation. (10%)
B. Three Examinations, both essay and short answer. (60%)
C. Research Paper. (30%)
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IX. Justification for Inclusion in University Studies Program
A. Objective I
Emphasis
Demonstrate the ability to locate and gather information.
Significant
Content For historians and social scientists, the locating and gathering of information
and drawing conclusions from the findings is essential. Both primary and secondary
sources on issues under consideration will be used to demonstrate (1) methods of location
and (2) the variety of conclusions which might be reached from source material. Topical
material will include information on various forms of individual expression, including art
and architecture.
Teaching Strategies The process of information gathering is learned through
demonstration of the tools and resources available, and then through repetition to make
the skill functional. The initial steps in the process will be handled through in-class
demonstrations using conventional sources as well as computerized bibliographic and
database materials followed by group discussions on research techniques.
Student Assignments Students will be expected to continue their research throughout the
semester to contribute to class discussions, prepare the assigned bibliography, and present
a research paper. The most significant assignment related to the objective will revolve
around the research paper, but in several of the issue discussions, students will be
expected to locate and gather information related to the subject.
Student Evaluation Assessment of student skills in the location and gathering of
information is an important component in the research project. For historians, the
gathering of information is as essential as the analysis, organization, and communication
of the research. There is a wide range of sources that might be employed depending on
the subject under analysis, ranging from oral interviews, field observations, diaries,
letters, contemporary periodicals, and secondary works.
B. Objective 2
Emphasis
Demonstrate capabilities for critical thinking, reasoning, and
analyzing.
Significant
Content The development of critical thinking skills will be integrated into all elements of
the course. The nature of the theme chosen will provide a background for issue analysis
of conflicting interpretations and evidence. Students will not only have to deal with their
values and assumptions, but those of people with different views. An example involves
focusing on controversies involving the modern style of architecture and its
appropriateness as a response to meeting human needs in the modern era. By examining
the debate and the “proof” used to bolster the various positions regarding this
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architectural style, students will develop an appreciation for the complexities surrounding
significant issues.
Teaching Strategies Discussions focused upon specific problems faced and solutions
offered in the creation of the built environment will be used to stimulate critical thinking
about a wide range of problems. In a group setting, for example, students will examine
issues and try to posit as many options as possible. It is an important strategy to
demonstrate that there are always alternatives and that simply because a decision was
made, there were other options available. For example, the decision to abandon streetcars
in favor of busses in the mid-twentieth century had profound consequences for the
dispersal of urban density and the growth of urban sprawl.
Student Assignments Students will be expected to display critical thinking skills as they
progress in their research and discussion. An important focus of the research project lies
in moving beyond information gathering to independent conclusions, allowing students to
both analyze and synthesize relevant course materials. Throughout the semester, students
will be given discussion assignments related to information analysis and critical thinking.
Student Evaluation The ability to demonstrate critical and analytical skill will be a
factor in the evaluation of the research paper, essay exams, and the cogency of the
arguments used in class discussions. These will be evaluated on the depth of analysis
exhibited and the logic of the arguments used. To evaluate student participation and
discussion, the following rubric will be employed:
Performance
Level
Behavior/ Performance
Critical contribution: Asks provocative questions that extend discussion beyond
the immediate issue under consideration and/or makes insightful, critical or
Excellent (A)
evaluative comments. Contributes new information and/or insights and identifies
the source.
Good (B)
Exhibits Good Insights into and/or Understanding of the issue under
consideration. Comments extend beyond merely informational (Average) but are
less than contributions deemed “critical” (Excellent).
Average (C)
Informational: Asks points of information, issues of clarification related to the
issue under consideration.
Below
average (D)
Speaks, but comment or question does not expand class understanding of the
issues.
Present (F)
Attends but does not speak
Absent (X)
Did not attend discussion
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C. Objective 3
Emphasis
Demonstrate Effective Communication Skills
Significant
Content The content of the course will provide the material students will use to develop
their communication skills.
Teaching Strategies To assist student verbal communication skills, various problemoriented questions will be posed for discussion and interaction. Various writing exercises
will help develop student written communication skills.
Student Assignments Students will be expected to communicate to the class in
discussions and in the presentation of their research. Written communication will be
expected in the research project, and an oral presentation of the project will be required.
Students will submit a prospectus and preliminary bibliography early in the semester in
order to get feedback on the project as a whole.
Student Evaluation Students will be evaluated on the clarity and precision of their
expression as well as their ability to communicate an integrated understanding of the
material. Essay examinations and the research project will emphasize written
communication as well as content. Verbal communication in class discussions will also
be a factor in the final grade.
D. Objective 4
Emphasis
Demonstrate an understanding of human experiences and the
ability to relate them to the present.
Some
Content Since an important part of the human experience across cultures and across time
involves interacting with the built environment, the ability to understand the broad range
of human experiences and to relate them to present circumstance are important
components of the course. The present as well as the past will be under constant focus, as
students struggle to understand why we build cities the way we do. Topics for
consideration were selected so they would relate to this objective and promote a clearer
understanding of the problems faced by people today as they inhabit a designed built
environment, and how that environment has changed over time. One example
demonstrating this objective relates to examining the ways in which the design of an
urban space can either promote or discourage human interactions, such as the placement
of street furniture in a small urban park.
Teaching Strategies Numerous audio-visual aids including slides, feature films,
documentaries, and film clips will be employed to help meet this objective. Using
material from lectures and student research, discussions will aid students in understanding
human experiences and how they shape patterns in the built environment.
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Student Assignments Various readings will be assigned throughout the semester relating
to the objective, as well as videos detailing the built environment of numerous world
cities such as London, Paris, Rome (both ancient and contemporary), and Tokyo.
Student Evaluation Students will be evaluated by means of discussion and graded essays
relating to issues surrounding the human experience of particular aspects of the built
environment, both how they affect and are affected by culture, and how they have
changed over time. To evaluate student participation and discussion, the following rubric
will be employed:
Performance
Level
Behavior/ Performance
Critical contribution: Asks provocative questions that extend discussion beyond
the immediate issue under consideration and/or makes insightful, critical or
Excellent (A)
evaluative comments. Contributes new information and/or insights and identifies
the source.
Good (B)
Exhibits Good Insights into and/or Understanding of the issue under
consideration. Comments extend beyond merely informational (Average) but are
less than contributions deemed “critical” (Excellent).
Average (C)
Informational: Asks points of information, issues of clarification related to the
issue under consideration.
Below
average (D)
Speaks, but comment or question does not expand class understanding of the
issues.
Present (F)
Attends but does not speak
Absent (X)
Did not attend discussion
E. Objective 5
Emphasis
Demonstrate an understanding of various cultures and their
interrelationships.
Some
Content Course materials will be carefully chosen so that students will be forced to deal
with various cultures by stepping outside their own cultural biases and seeing a variety of
built environments from around the globe and from different points in time. By fostering
the idea that other cultures have to be examined from a neutral position, the course will
enhance this University Studies objective. For example, the organization of public spaces
in Asia differs from their organization and design in the West, and is related to
differences in culture.
Teaching Strategies Through readings, documentary films, lectures, and discussion,
diversity in the global built environment will be explored and explained. For example,
students will compare images of various cities, such as Bombay, Tokyo, Mexico City,
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London, Paris, New York, and ancient Rome in order to draw conclusions about the
diversity of the built environment over time and across cultures.
Student Assignments By examining the built environment in various world cultures, the
readings and other course materials will reinforce student understanding of the
interrelationship between culture and the design of the built environment.
Student Evaluation Students will be evaluated by means of discussion and graded essays
relating to issues surrounding the human experience of particular aspects of the built
environment, both how they affect and are affected by culture, and how they have
changed over time.
F.
Objective 6
Emphasis
Demonstrate the ability to integrate the breadth and diversity
of knowledge and experience.
Significant
Content Given the broad interdisciplinary nature of history, architecture, and urban
design, material covering a wide range of knowledge will be presented. Through the
semester, students will be encouraged to analyze the dynamic of the design of the built
environment in all its manifestations, including architecture, city planning, politics,
economics, and the arts. By exploring the diverse range of built environment forms,
students will be able to see how the creation of the built environment is a result of diverse
and complex factors.
Teaching Strategies In lectures and discussions it will be essential to expand the topic to
its larger dimensions. For example, by exploring a broad range of built environments
from different human cultures, students will come to understand the tremendous diversity
inherent in the human experience. These results will not be “spoon-fed” in a lecture, but
“discovered” by students through the prompting of well-crafted thought-out questions. In
all the formal lectures there will be attempts to place the material under discussion into a
broader framework by using various audio-visual materials, documentaries, and scholarly
works.
Student Assignments The breadth and diversity of knowledge and experience will be
reinforced through the assigned “readings.” These will range from traditional scholarly
works to audio-visuals and documentaries. Using video documentaries and slides from
various places in the United States and around the world, students will analyze
differences evident in the built environment and explore possible reasons that would
explain those differences. For example, the crowded streetscape of Asian cities like
Tokyo and Taipei look quite different from the broad avenues of such western capitals as
Paris, France.
Student Evaluation In both the research project and essay exams, students will be
evaluated on the extent to which they demonstrate knowledge of the breath of experience
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in creating built environments around the world. This approach would integrate aspects
of both perspectives on human institutions and individual expression. In a question or
project dealing with the design of Paris, for example, students could be expected to
discuss how the layout and design of the street system by Baron Haussmann under Louis
Napoleon differed from the medieval arrangement that preceded it and how the new city
design reflected Enlightenment ideals. To evaluate student participation and discussion,
the following rubric will be employed:
Performance
Level
Behavior/ Performance
Critical contribution: Asks provocative questions that extend discussion beyond
the immediate issue under consideration and/or makes insightful, critical or
Excellent (A)
evaluative comments. Contributes new information and/or insights and identifies
the source.
Good (B)
Exhibits Good Insights into and/or Understanding of the issue under
consideration. Comments extend beyond merely informational (Average) but are
less than contributions deemed “critical” (Excellent).
Average (C)
Informational: Asks points of information, issues of clarification related to the
issue under consideration.
Below
average (D)
Speaks, but comment or question does not expand class understanding of the
issues.
Present (F)
Attends but does not speak
Absent (X)
Did not attend discussion
G. Objective 7
Emphasis
Demonstrate the ability to make informed, intelligent value
decisions.
Some
Content Making informed decisions about the construction of physical space and the
built environment is a significant component of the class. For example, as automobileoriented urban sprawl transforms the landscape of America and the lives of its
inhabitants, making informed choices regarding housing, transportation, and urban design
will be key elements confronting students in their lives in the future.
Teaching Strategies Throughout the semester, discussions devoted to examining social
and economic consequences associated with the design of the built environment will have
a direct goal of exploring the valuing process of both the student and those people under
consideration. Recent research on the connection between health and the built
environment, especially as it relates to hospital design and sick building syndrome will be
discussed and explored, with an aim toward understanding the consequences of some
current building practices.
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Student Assignments Readings, videos, and class discussions will help students explore
the dilemma we all face as we struggle to make decisions regarding the best design of the
built environment based upon their own value systems and available global resources.
Should cities impose green belts, such as exist in Seattle and in several European cities,
or should private development be allowed to proceed in an unregulated fashion? These
questions are central to the future development of the built environment.
Student Evaluation Class discussion and essay exams will provide students the
opportunity to reflect on the value decisions of others in the creation of the built
environment, as well as their own responses to the various solutions presented.
H. Objective 8
Emphasis
Demonstrate the ability to make informed, sensitive aesthetic
responses.
Some
Content Understanding the designed nature of the built environment will allow students
to assess more accurately their aesthetic responses to it. This objective will be
demonstrated in the readings, discussions, video documentaries, and other course
material. One question students will confront is whether modern buildings are ugly or
great examples of particular value sets expressed in concrete.
Teaching Strategies Class discussions will be devoted to exploring the aesthetic
component of the design of the built environment. Exploring this dimension will help
students make more informed aesthetic responses to their environment. Extensive use of
slides from cities across the country and around the world will be used to showcase the
aesthetic component of modern and postmodern architecture.
Student Assignments Readings, videos, and class discussions will help students explore
the aesthetic component of both good and bad urban design and architecture. For
example, students will need to evaluate the architectural design of such buildings as the
university power plant, whose modern architectural style expresses well the industrial
nature and raw power inherent in its function. Examples from around the world will be
used to show the connection between design and function, and will be employed to allow
students to confront their own assumptions about the appropriate use of particular styles
of modern and postmodern architecture.
Student Evaluation Class discussion and essay exams will provide students the
opportunity to reflect on the design aesthetics embodied in the built environment, as well
as their reactions to it.
To evaluate student participation and discussion, the following rubric will be employed:
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Performance
Level
Behavior/ Performance
Critical contribution: Asks provocative questions that extend discussion beyond
the immediate issue under consideration and/or makes insightful, critical or
Excellent (A)
evaluative comments. Contributes new information and/or insights and identifies
the source.
Good (B)
Exhibits Good Insights into and/or Understanding of the issue under
consideration. Comments extend beyond merely informational (Average) but are
less than contributions deemed “critical” (Excellent).
Average (C)
Informational: Asks points of information, issues of clarification related to the
issue under consideration.
Below
average (D)
Speaks, but comment or question does not expand class understanding of the
issues.
Present (F)
Attends but does not speak
Absent (X)
Did not attend discussion
I. Objective 9
Emphasis
Demonstrate the ability to function responsibly in one's
natural, social, and political environment.
Some
Content By exploring the range of choices individuals made in the course of shaping
their built environments, this course will demonstrate that individual actions have
consequences, and that every individual, regardless of status, participates in the creation
of the social and political systems that are ultimately embodied in the creation of the built
environment.
Teaching Strategies In class discussions students can debate the issues regarding their
place in the construction of new environments and the preservation of old ones, based on
readings, video documentaries, their research, and class presentations.
Student Assignments Discussions related to readings and video assignments will ask
students to evaluate how people in the past functioned in their social and political
environments in regard to interacting with the built environment and the value of
preserving aspects of those environments today. Class discussions will reflect on how
individual actions take place within a larger societal context, and that individual actions
have larger societal consequences.
Student Evaluation Students will be expected to display an understanding of cultural
and political issues involved in the construction of the built environment and be able to
relate them to the kinds of problems they face themselves as inhabitants of a built
environment. Students will read and discuss aspects of the “new urbanism,” reflecting on
the larger environmental and social consequences of choosing detached housing in
suburbs accessible only by automobile versus purchasing property in one of the so-called
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“new town” developments. In addition to class discussions, this objective will be directly
evaluated on the research project and essay examinations.
X. Background
The instructor for “Perspectives on Urban Design” should hold an advanced degree in
history or architectural history, with an emphasis on urban history. He or she should have
an extensive background in and knowledge of the built environment, including
architectural history, urban history, and urban planning and design.
XI. Class Size
The optimum size for this course is 20 in order to allow for meaningful discussion.
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