Good Design: Habitation

Semester and Year	SP 2011
Course Number	ARTS-UG1627
Section	001
Instructor	Louise Harpman
Days	Mon,Wed
Time	3:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement

Description

While the principles of "good design" may be unique to each design discipline, certain trends and themes emerge in related fields. This arts workshop begins with a study of the Museum of Modern Art's development of the Good Design programs from the 1950s. It then moves to analyze design processes that are found in the natural world and expands to assess urban morphology, infrastructure, and landscape. One of the Bauhaus legacies we inherit is a reconsideration of existenzminimum --a scientific basis for using minimal means and methods to provide human habitation. We will look broadly at types of inhabitation, including hives, webs, nests, and lodges; houses, housing, cities, and regions; and extreme environments including emergency shelters and outer-space habitats. As a project-based course, students will work individually and in teams. Seminars and workshops using digital design software will accompany the investigations and weekly readings. Authors include Witold Rybczinksi, Constance Adams, Ricky Burdett, Nicholas Lemann, Peter Hall, William Mitchell, Keith Critchlow, Ernst Haeckl, James Corner, Richard Sennett, Stan Allen, Alex Wall, Anuradha Mathur and others.

Course Type

Arts Workshops (ARTS-UG)