Course Outline
Situated at the intersection of architecture and city planning, urban design is both a process and a practical approach to improve the quality of built environments. Good urban design aspires to shape city form by focusing on the complex relationships between built and unbuilt space and by facilitating the creation of built environments that are both sensitive to context and to people’s needs. As Jonathan Barnett puts it, urban design is about “designing cities without designing buildings”. Urban designers use their rich contextual knowledge about the dynamic nature of city development and their active skills in observing, interpreting, and recording transformations of the built environment in order to support good design at a variety of spatial scales. This course is designed to supplement existing courses that cover history and theory of urban planning and to better prepare students without prior design training for the studio experience.
HISP 471VV Syllabus
Required Texts
Bacon, Edmund D. Design of Cities. Penguin: 1976.
Larice, Michael and Macdonald, Elizabeth (Eds.) The Urban Design Reader. Routledge: 2006.
Course Requirements
| Graded Course Requirements | Due Date | Weight |
| Class Participation | All Semester | 15% |
| Midterm Exam | Oct 8 (Mon) | 20% |
| Description & Critique | Oct 31 (Wed) | 15% |
| In-Class Exercises | Nov 5, 12 & 19 (Mon) | 15% |
| Presentation | Dec 5 (Wed) | 15% |
| Design Project | Dec 11 (Tues) | 20% |
Course Schedule
| WEEK 1 | |
| 8/27 M | Course Introduction |
| 8/30 W | The Elements of Urban Design |
| WEEK 2 | |
| 9/3 M | Reading the Built Environment Reading: Design of Cities, pages 13-41 |
| 9/5 W | Ancient Cities Reading: The Growth of Greek Cities, Design Order of Ancient Rome in Design of Cities |
| WEEK 3 | |
| 9/10 M | Medieval Patterns Reading: Medieval Design in Design of Cities |
| 9/12 W | The Baroque Reading: Upsurge of the Renaissance and Development of Paris in Design of Cities |
| WEEK 4 | |
| 9/17 M | Utopian Cities Reading: Town Planning in Frontier America, pages 276-290 |
| 9/19 W | The Picturesque Reading: Pages 182-185 and John Nash and London in Design of Cities |
| WEEK 5 | |
| 9/24 M | The Progressives Reading: The Neighborhood Unit in The Urban Design Reader |
| 9/26 W | Modern Developments Reading: Toward an Urban Design Manifesto in The Urban Design Reader |
| WEEK 6 | |
| 10/1 M | Total/all-of-a-piece/piece-by-piece/plug-in Design Reading: Urban Design, Chapter 2 |
| 10/3 W | Community/Public Occupancy Reading: Three Types of Outdoor Activities and Life Between Buildings and Neighborhood Space in The Urban Design Reader |
| WEEK 7 | |
| 10/8 M | Personal/Defensible Space Reading: TBA |
| 10/10 W | Midterm Exam |
| WEEK 8 | |
| 10/15 M | NO CLASS – FALL BREAK |
| 10/17 W | Field Trip – Meet at 2530 Espresso on Princess Anne Street |
| WEEK 9 | |
| 10/22 M | Case Studies: Streets Reading: Getting Around in The Urban Design Reader |
| 10/24 W | Case Studies: Plazas Reading: Introduction/The Life of Plazas/Sitting Space/Sun, Wind, Trees, and Water in The Urban Design Reader |
| WEEK 10 | |
| 10/29 M | Case Studies: Civic Art & Landscape Reading: The Art of Placemaking, pages 210-237 |
| 10/31 W | Description & Critique Due Identity (dominance, positive/negative space, static/dynamic, articulated, civic/monumental space) |
| WEEK 11 | |
| 11/5 M | In Class Design Exercise |
| 11/5 W | Composition (axial focus, central focus, family of forms, hierarchical ordering, structure) |
| WEEK 12 | |
| 11/12 M | In Class Design Exercise |
| 11/14 W | Sequences (mystery, unfolding, arrival, succession, transition) |
| WEEK 13 | |
| 11/19 M | In Class Design Exercise |
| 11/21 W | NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING |
| WEEK 14 | |
| 11/26 M | Concerns: Placemaking Reading: Principles for Regional Design and Prospects for Places in The Urban Design Reader |
| 11/28 W | Concerns: Public Health Reading: How the Built Environment Affects Physical Activity |
| WEEK 15 | |
| 12/3 M | Concerns: Sustainability Reading: Green Streets in The Urban Design Reader |
| 12/5 W | PRESENTATIONS |
| WEEK 16 | |
| 12/11 T | DESIGN PROJECT DUE |