ENVS 6325 Critical Urban Planning Workshop 2019
Course director: Ute Lehrer
High-rise Apartment Buildings: From Modernism to Financialization
This course will look at historical and contemporary examples of compact forms of living. Taking the centenary of the Bauhaus – the foundation of the Modern Movement in Architecture – as a starting point to critically investigate the role of modernism and high-rise apartment buildings in today’s cities, it will focus on historical and contemporary discussions of building dense and compact urban environments both in the centre as well as on the outskirts of cities. What started in the early 20th century as an attempt to democratize society through redesigning the built environment, has become a financial portfolio item in advanced capitalism. All over the world we see high-rise apartment towers, often in the form of condominiums, mushrooming throughout entire urban regions.
In this field-based course, we will look at classical and current examples both in Frankfurt and Berlin and meet with academics, planners and professionals. We will learn first-hand about some of the challenges, both in historical as well as contemporary perspective and the current pressure of housing as a commodity. We will also visit the birthplace of the bauhaus. This course fulfills the workshop requirement for the MES Planning Program.
This 6 credit course has three parts:
(1) preparation: readings, discussion of readings, individual and group research; there will be 3-4 meetings in the winter term (dates tba).
(2) field trip: Frankfurt, Weimar, Dessau, Berlin, June 1 - 10
(3) report + presentations: after the return to Toronto, students will produce a professional report and will give three presentations (one at FES/York; one to the City of Toronto; and one to a professional organization).
Costs: While students are expected to pay for their individual flight, accommodations, meal, etc. there is a range of funding sources (York International, GESSA, DAAD, etc.) that students can apply for. Also, the MRCI grant on Global Suburbanisms will cover some of the costs (e.g. tour bus, etc.). From experience of previous years, students always got generously supported through these various ways.
Application process: Students need to hand in a short statement of interest (+/- 500 words) about their background and how the workshop fits with their own academic and professional interests (Plan of Study). The selection will be based on suitability. Space is limited to 15 students. Deadline for submission of statement is January 29. Please send applications to lehrer@yorku.ca
Requirements: This is a 6 credit course (equivalent to 240 hours), for summer 2019. Students are expected to come prepared to Germany and therefore they have to be available to meet three to four times during winter 2019, do substantive readings and engage in various aspects as well as write a group report and do public presentations in summer 2019, after coming back from the field course (see above).
