e n v i r o n m e n t a l d e s i g n f a c u l t y o f a r c h i t e c t u r e u n i v e r s i t y o f m a n i t o b a L A N D S C A P E + U R B A N I S M EVLU 3010 L A N D S C A P E + U R B A N I S M T H E O R Y (3 credit hours) year 3 winter term wednesdays 4:00 7:00pm russell building room 210 INSTRUCTORS Lawrence Bird, Postdoctoral Fellow office : 121b Arch2 phone : (w) 474.7152 (c) 963.3592 email : birdl@cc.umanitoba.ca Andrea Kennedy, M.L.Arch office : 201E Russell phone : (w) 944.9907 (c) 510.9707 email : kennedy.andrea.c@gmail.com COURSE DESCRIPTION An examination of twentieth and twenty-first century thinking that has been influential in the theory and practice of landscape architecture, planning and urbanism. Emphasis is on ideas, paradigms, and manifestos. This will include a study of the social, political, cultural, technological, and aesthetic positions that have had an impact on landscape, urbanism, and design, and which affect the way we understand landscape and urban form. FORMAT This will be predominantly a lecture and seminar course, complemented by assignments and student presentations. COURSE OBJECTIVES 1 To expose students to a range of theoretical positions and contemporary ideas about landscape architecture, planning, and urbanism; 2 To situate ideas and design within their social, cultural, political, technological, and aesthetic context; 3 To expose students to a range of seminal works of landscape and urban design, and their designers, including their philosophical approach to design and way of seeing the world; 4 To explore the relationship between theory and precedent, between theory and practice: to develop an understanding of the philosophical and theoretical contexts within which designers work, and to illustrate the potential of theoretical research and critical thinking to enrich design practice; 5 To encourage the development of a rigorous intellectual framework for design and research, and an awareness of their emerging personal theoretical position and approach to design; (Eaton, M. Course Outline: Tectonic Precedents, 2000/2001 ) 6 To develop critical and analytical thinking along with the ability to communicate this thinking (writing, oral presentation, other media); and 7 To develop an ability to present ideas clearly and concisely, and an ability to engage in theoretical discourse. 1
ATTENDANCE Attendance is MANDATORY. A sign-in sheet will be used at the beginning of each class. The University of Manitoba General Academic Regulations and Policy allows debarment from classes for persistent absence. Students who are chronically absent, without informing the instructors or without consent, will be asked to withdraw from the course. VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWAL The last day for voluntary withdrawal from this course, without academic penalty, is 17 March 2010. Students should refer to the 2009/2010 Undergraduate Course Calendar for the necessary procedures. Students are advised to seek an appointment with the Instructor(s) prior to this date to discuss their individual performance in the course if they have concerns or are considering withdrawal. SCHEDULE (subject to change) 13 JANUARY Course Introduction : Landscape + Urbanism Introduction to Assignment 1 + Assignment 2 20 JANUARY The Idea of a City 27 JANUARY TBA : Guest Lecturer Richard Milgrom 3 FEBRUARY Assignment 1 Presentations 4-6 FEBRUARY ATMOSPHERE 2010 : Uncharted 10 FEBRUARY Representation Introduction to Assignment 3 15-19 FEBRUARY READING WEEK 24 FEBRUARY TBA : Guest Lecturer Dr. Richard Perron 3 MARCH The Urban Surface 10 MARCH Cinematic & Mediated Cities 17 MARCH Meaning and Narrative 24 MARCH Unscheduled Assignment 2 Assignment Deadline 31 MARCH Theory and Practice no formal seminar this week 5 APRIL Assignment 3 Deadline 7 APRIL Assignment 3 Presentations 2
SEMINAR SESSIONS Roughly the second half of each class, with the exception of the presentation days, will involve a student-led seminar session. 4-5 students will be responsible for each session, leading with a concise summary of the week s readings and guiding a critical and reflective discussion. ALL students must read ALL material prior to each class and come prepared to participate. Not some, all. This is your opportunity to question, challenge, agree, debate, and to push your thinking and understanding of the course material, and how it applies to your other work, particularly your studio work. EVALUATION ASSIGNMENT 1 : Precedent due 5 February 2010 ASSIGNMENT 2 : Precis due 24 March 2010 ASSIGNMENT 3 : Another s Eyes due 5 April 2010 30% 15% 35% SEMINAR PARTICIPATION 20% * All assignments are the property of the University of Manitoba. LATE WORK All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the specified date. Late submission will result in a penalty of one letter grade. For example, a B+ will become a C+. Assignments submitted more than 7 days late will be given the grade of F. No work will be accepted beyond 7 days. Late work must be submitted directly to the Instructor. In the case of illness or other special circumstance, notification should be given as soon as possible and before the deadline in question to the Instructors and/or Lori Amedick, the Environmental Design Program Student Advisor. Late work, without penalty, will only be allowed on medical grounds, with a submitted medical certificate, or on compassionate grounds, which is discretionary in nature, with the permission of the Instructor. Students who are unable to complete the term work should consult Section 4.1.2 of the General Academic Regulations and Requirements in the 2009/2010 Undergraduate Course Calendar for the University of Manitoba Policy. PLAGIARISM The University of Manitoba has a strict policy on Academic Integrity, as found in the 2009/2010 Undergraduate Course Calendar, under Section 7 of the General Academic Regulations and Requirements. Plagiarism or any other form of cheating in examinations, term tests or academic work is subject to serious academic penalty (e.g. suspension or expulsion from the faculty or university). To plagiarize is to take ideas or words of another person and pass them off as one s own. In short, it is stealing something intangible rather than an object. Plagiarism applies to any written work, in traditional or electronic format, as well as orally or verbally presented work. To provide adequate and correct documentation is not only an indication of academic honesty but is also a courtesy which enables the reader to consult these sources with ease. Failure to provide appropriate citations constitutes plagiarism. Excerpts from the University of Manitoba 2009/2010 Undergraduate Course Calendar 3
Readings 13 Jan. Introduction to Theory: Corner, James "Critical Thinking" in Landscape Journal Vol. 10 No. 2, Fall 1991 (pp. 159-162) Johnson, Paul-Alan (1994), "The Theory of Architecture: Concepts, Themes & Practices", Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York ; Introduction (pp. 1-23) 20 Jan. Modernism: Le Corbusier (1967), "Radiant City", NV Drukkerij Koch en Knuttel, Gouda (pp. 90-97; 157-173) Kostof, Spiro (1967), "The City Assembled", Bulfinch Press: London; 'Advent of the Modernist Street' (pp. 231-243) 27 Jan. Critical responses to modernism Harvey, David (2000), Spaces of Hope, Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, excerpts; Lefebvre, Henri, excerpts from The Production of Space, in Neil Leach, ed. (1997), Rethinking Architecture, Routledge: London & New York (pp. 138-146); Milgrom, Richard (2008), Lucien Kroll: design, difference, everyday life in Space, Difference, Everyday Life: Reading Henri Lefebvre, Routledge: New York & London (pp. 264-281) 10 Feb. Representation: Pallasmaa, Juhani. (2005), Hapticity and Time: Notes on fragile architecture. In Encounters : Architectural essays, ed. Peter MacKeith, Rakennustieto Oy: Helsinki. Corner, James. (1999), Eidetic Operations and New Landscapes. In Recovering Landscape: Essays in Contemporary Landscape Architecture, ed. James Corner, Princeton Architectural Press: New York Girot, Christophe. (2006), Vision in Motion: Representing Landscape in Time. In The Landscape Urbanism Reader, ed. Charles Waldheim, Princeton Architectural Press: New York Corner, James. (1992), Representation and Landscape: Drawing and Making in the Landscape Medium, Word & Image 8, no. 3: 243-275. Corner, James. (1996), Aerial Representation and the Making of Landscape. In Taking Measures Across the American Landscape, James Corner and Alex MacLean, Yale University Press: New Haven 3 Mar. The Urban Surface: Allen, Stan, From Object to Field, in A.D. Architecture After Geometry, pp. 24-31. Bunshcoten, Raul Urban Flotsam: Stirring the City, Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2001. Igarashi Taro, Superflat Architecture and Japanese Subculture in Towards Totalscape. pp. 97-101 Wall, Alex, Programming the Urban Surface in Waldheim et. al., Landscape Urbanism Reader. Pp. 233-249. Leatherbarrow, David, Leveling the Land pp. 171-184.
10 Mar. Cinematic + Mediated Cities: Koeck, Richard. 2008. Cine-Tecture: a filmic reading and critique of architecture in cities. in Cities in Film: Architecture, Urban Space and the Moving Image. Liverpool: University of Liverpool (conference proceedings). Pages 135-141. Pallasmaa, Juhani. 2001. Preface and part of Introduction from The Architecture of Image: existential space in cinema. Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy. Pages 7-20. Clarke, David B. 1997. Introduction: Previewing the Cinematic City in The Cinematic City, ed. David B. Clarke. London: Routledge. Pages 1-10. Huhtamo, Erkki. 2009. Messages on the Wall: An archaeology of public media displays. in Urban Screens Reader, ed. Scott McQuire et. al. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Culture. Pages 15-28. Broeckmann, Andreas. 2009. Intimate Publics: Memory, performance and spectacle in Urban Environments. in Urban Screens Reader, ed. Scott McQuire et. al. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Culture. Pages 109-120. Broeckmann, Andreas. 1999. Excerpt The Public Domain from Public Spheres and Network Interfaces. in The Cybercities Reader, ed. Stephen Graham. London and New York: Routledge. Page 379. 17 Mar. Narrative + Meaning: Livesey, Graham. Passages: Explorations of the Contemporary City, Passages: Explorations of the contemporary city. University of Calgary Press: Calgary chapters Buildings, Narrative, Surfaces ; decerteau, Michel, Walking the City ; Potteiger, Matthew and Purinton, Jamie Landscape Narratives (1998), Trieb, Marc, Must Landscapes Mean? Theyr, Robert, Three Dimensions of Meaning, Spirn, Ann Winston The Language of Landscape in Simon Swaffield, ed., Theory in Landscape Architecture: A Reader, Philadelhia: University of Pennsylvania Press 31 Mar. Theory and Practise: Descombes, Georges, Shifting Sites: The Swiss Way, Geneva in Waldheim, C. ed. (2006), The Landscape Urbanism Reader, Princeton Architectural Press: New York. Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott-Brown, Steven Izenour Learning from Las Vegas excerpts in Jencks, C. & Kropf, K. (2006), Theories and Manifestoes in Contemporary Architecture, Wiley Academic: New York. Krieger, Alex Where and How Does Urban Design Happen, in Harvard Design Magazine Spring/Summer 2006 pp. 64-71. Koolhaas, Rem, Bigness, in S, M, L, XL, Koolhaas et. al.,monacelli Press, 1995 Copyright 2010 Lawrence Bird. All rights reserved. Permission to copy and use under "fair use" in education is granted, provided proper credit is given. Citation: Lawrence Bird. Syllabus. Landscape + Urbanism Theory. Canada: University of Manitoba, Winter 2010. H-Urban Teaching Center, H-Net. July, 2012. URL: http://www.h-net.org/~urban/teach/syllabi/bird2010syl_3.pdf