Urbanism III
Prof. Dr. Andrea Haase
The two-semester course aims to establish a basic understanding of tradition and
key-issues of urbanism in Europe and America, from the beginnings of industrial development to date, during the first semester; it enfolds and deepens specific aspects
of the tension between global and local influences on urbanism and resulting needs
for responding to urban changes during the second semester. Both the semesters
are back-boned by considering that global influences of the “worlds of systems” (politics, finances, technology) have to be responded locally by strengthening the urban conditions within the “worlds of living” (housing, working, services, social and
economic relationships). Herewith, “spaces of interconnection” are an important
perspective to be specified relative to the needs for re-embedding global functions
locally into socio-spatial conditions.
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The course-structure builds up a differentiated understanding of the relevance of
urbanism and urban design within the discipline of architecture and related fields
of the “making professions” (architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning,
product design).
The offers of content complement each other during the first and the second semester. Whereas the winter semester concentrates on structural conditions, the
summer semester applies this knowledge in order to introduce a method to come
to concepts by “Creating a location”. The subject of the course is “decoding and designing space – in terms of structure, texture, material”. “Space – is understood as the
synthesis of use, image and concept in time and place (s. Lefebvre, H. 1991). The intention of teaching is to enable to anticipate and to conceptualize “space” as syntheses of “values of use” and “values of form”. This way, aesthetic values are taken into
consideration in a specific way, closely related to “spatial frameworks” for social and
economic processes. The subject focuses on present stages of urban transformation
and resulting needs for intervention in terms of completion, renewal, re-structuring
or innovation. “Designing space” gains increasing importance for the fragmented
agglomeration having to respond to changes at individual locations, competing
equally, but with different needs, for investment in central and in “inner” and “outer”
peripheral areas.
Exercises in the summer semester will focus on “creating a location” and will be carried out relative to the introduced subjects: The Generic City, What is a “concept”?,
Third Landscape- Landscape Urbanism, Open Spaces - Placemaking, Infrastructure –
Strategic Urbanism, The Urban and the Rural, Sacred Spaces, Urban quarters – Common Ground”… We contribute to “Liveable cities”.
COMPULSORY COURSES | summer semester 2015