HISTORY OF ART 220 | ART OF THE CITY
SYLLABUS | FALL 2008

Glenn Andres, Johnson 407A, Office Hours: Mon. 1-3, Friday 10-12:00 (and by appointment)
x5226; andres@middlebury.edu

Lectures: Monday, Wednesday, Friday -- 9:05-9:55 a.m., Johnson 304

Readings: Assignments on lecture schedule. You are requested to buy the following paperbacks at the College Store:
J. Garreau, Edge City
L. Mumford, The City in History

On reserve at Starr Library for required reading will be:

A.E.J. Morris, History of Urban Form (HT166 M59 1979)
S. Giedion, Space, Time, & Architecture (NA203 G5 1967)
E. Bacon, Design of Cities (NA9050 B22)
F. Choay, The Modern City, Planning in the 19th Century (NA9094 C4713)
C. Doxiades, Architecture in Transition (NA680 D6)
J Garreau, Edge City (HT334 U5 G37)
L. Mumford, The City in History (HT111 M8)

Note: this is a course without a textbook. Readings are intended to fill out the picture (e.g. provide factual information, additional background) for topics covered in lectures. At the same time they cannot compensate for missed classes. They are assigned weekly on the syllabus to coordinate with the material being covered in class and are most valuable when completed at that time.

On reserve at Starr Library as supplemental sources will be:
N. Evenson, Le Corbusier: The Machine & the Grand Design
(NA 9085 J4 E9)
J. Reps, The Making of Urban America (NA9105 R45)
E. Howard, Garden Cities of Tomorrow (HT161 H6 1965)
S. Kostof, A History of Architecture (NA200 K65 1995)
P. Turner, Campus: An American Planning Tradition (LB3223.3 T87 1984)
D. Wiebenson, Tony Garnier: The Cité Industrielle (NA9050 W47)
R. Venturi, D. Scott Brown, S. Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas
(NA735 L3 V4 1977)
F. Ll. Wright, The Living City (NA9030 W72)

Supplemental readings are noted on the syllabus. They are good resources for additional information on topics covered in the lectures. The Kostof, in particular, can be very useful for discussion and details of examples covered in class (e.g. in case you should miss a class, you at least would have some access to what we have been talking about). Others can be helpful in thinking about paper topics.

Visual Resources: The books on reserve, and especially Kostof, A History of Architecture, are valuable resources for visual references. In addition, there is a website for the course where images have been scanned from selected lecture slides [http://cat.middlebury.edu/~slides/HA220], username: ha220, password: city.

Examinations: A mid-term, in class Wednesday, October 22; and a take-home final examination (covering issues from the second half of the course) due in my office by 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 16. Each will count 1/4 of the semester grade. (Note: There will be only one make-up given for the mid-term, designed for those who are legitimately unable to make the scheduled exam either because of verified illness or for a reason approved by the Office of the Dean of Students.)

Four Short papers: The ideas of urban design embodied in the major historical examples we will be examining in this course have become basic to much of our urban environment. Thus, while Middlebury is certainly not a major urban center, in its own modest way it reflects many of the issues we will be studying. Over the course of the term you will be asked to write four short essays (maximum 5 pages each – print 2-sided) describing the way in which these ideas are manifest even in Middlebury. These will give you an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the issues in question (as derived from lectures and readings) while explaining their presence in the local urban fabric. In each try to come to grips with the basic planning concepts under consideration as well as with their manifestation in the local example. Cumulatively these papers will count 1/2 of the course (late papers will be penalized one grade level, papers not submitted will average as a 0). You may discuss your ideas with your classmates, you may draw upon sources (that should be cited), but ultimately the work must be yours and should be signed with the honor pledge.

1) Due in class on Friday, October 3 -- Organic growth -- Issues of religious ceremony and defense were not paramount in the evolution of Middlebury, but other organic forces were. Can you see and articulate analogies between the development of Middlebury village and organic growth patterns such as we examined for the Greek and Medieval periods? Hint: referring to the map provided as well as to the physical fabric of the town, consider the distribution of functions (residential, commercial, industrial, educational) as well as the physical form of the town. What seem to be determining factors? Where appropriate, cite interesting parallels with known historical examples.

2) Due in class on Friday, October 17 – Alberti recognized and appreciated the visual qualities of cityscapes. Sixtus V manipulated them as planning tools. He took organic Rome and superimposed a sequential circulatory and visual structure on the city to serve specific purposes. Although the purposes may not be the same, can you see a similar visual structure at work in Middlebury village? Discuss and analyze it. How is Middlebury's version similar to Sistine Rome, how different? Hint: This is not possible without considering first the visual/physical, as well as the functional, results of Sixtus' approach. (The discussion in Bacon is helpful on this topic.) It is also not wholly evident unless one considers the means of circulation (on foot, by slow moving carriage) in use at the time the town fabric evolved.

3) Due in class on Friday, November 14 -- While formal city plans inspired by Haussmann’s Paris and the Columbian Exposition (like those envisioned for Chicago, Washington, and San Francisco) were difficult to construct, they found particularly fertile ground in college and university campuses. The major development of the Middlebury College campus took place after the advent of the City Beautiful movement in America. How are the ideas of this movement evidenced in the planning of the campus in terms of landscape and of buildings? (Useful resources: Kostof, pp. 669-673; Turner, pp. 163-213)

4) Due in class on Friday, December 5 . -- The automobile radically changed the character of American urban growth and design in the 20th century. Consider the implications of automobiles for urban arrangements. Cite specific examples found in Middlebury that illustrate the impact of the automobile (in
general patterns and/or in detailed design) on the fabric of the village and its surroundings. Note: this is to be a matter of observations and objective recording, not of value judgments.

Special events this fall related to issues of this course:
Middlebury College Museum of Art:
Exhibition: “Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur” (Sept. 14-Dec. 10)
Lectures:
Mon. Sept. 14 -- Richard Zettler, “Ur of the Chaldees: Inside Wooley’s Excavations at Abraham’s
Birthplace,” Seeler Studio Theater, 4:30 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 7 -- John Russell, “Preserving Iraq’s Past: Perils and Prospects,” CFA 221, 4:00 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 27 -- Irene Winter, “Archaeology and Burial Rituals from the Royal Tombs of Ur,”
Johnson 304, 12:30 p.m.

Clifford Sympoisum: Urban Landscape: the Politics of Expression
Lectures:
Fri., Sept. 29 -- David Harvey, “Neoliberalism and the City,” Mead Chapel, 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 30 -- Timothy Gilfoyle, “Chicago’s Millenium Park,” Harman Periodicals Room, Main
Library, 4:00 p.m.

Lectures and Readings:

Sept.         

 8    1) Introductory

10  2) Emergent City

12  3) Greek Cities

(Reading -- Required: Mumford 55-148; Morris 1-14, 19-36; Suggested: Kostof 1-135)

15  4) Hellenistic Cities

17  5) Rome: Republic and Empire

19  6) Roman Planning, Colonies

(Reading -- Required: Mumford 148-213; Morris 37-65; Suggested: Kostof 137-219)

22  7) Collapse and Survivals

24  8) Medieval Town

26  9) Late Medieval & Early Renaissance: Urban Facelifting

(Reading -- Required:  Mumford 213-321; Morris 66-120; Suggested: Kostof 245-257, 269-284, 295-307,323-343, 349-363;)

29 10) Discussion: Ancient and Medieval planning patterns, organic vs. controlled growth

Oct.

1  11) Renaissance Town: Rethinking the Urban Scheme

3 12) Urban Surgery in Rome

Middlebury paper #1 due in class.

(Reading -- Required:  Mumford 321-343;  Morris 121-154; Giedion 42-106; Suggested: Kostof 370-386, 403-431, 453-454, 468-476, 485-509, 511-518)

6    13) Baroque City I: Forms

8    14) Baroque City II: Determinants

10  15) Amsterdam Canals and English Squares

(Reading -- Required: Giedion 133-162; Mumford 344-403, 439-445; Morris 155-184, 196-197; Suggested: Kostof 527-538.)

13  NO CLASS -- FALL BREAK

15  16)  Planning in the New World: Medieval legacy

17  17) Planning in the New World: Baroque Legacy

Middlebury paper #2 due in class.

(Reading -- Required: Giedion 716-733; Mumford 403-409, 439-445; Morris 185-188, 210-230,

234-237, 254-262, 264-268, 273-283; Suggested: Kostof 433435, 442-451, 568-569, 605-633;  Supplementary: Reps)

20  18) Discussion: Renaissance and Baroque, Review for Examination #1

22  MID-TERM EXAMINATION

24  19) Urban Remodeling: 19th Century London and Paris

(Reading -- Required: Morris 230-234; Giedion 708-715, 734-775; Choay 22-24; Suggested: Kostof 640-647 )

27  20) The Park and the City Beautiful

29  21) The Grid and Coketown

31  22)  Utopians and the Garden City

(Reading -- Required: Morris 262-264, 268-272; Choay 22-24; Mumford 410-439, 446-481; Giedion 782-5); Suggested: Kostof 564-602, 669-676)

Nov.       

3  23) Cité Industrielle, Linear City, Futurism

5  24) Gropius, Mies, Wright

7  25) Le Corbusier

(Reading -- Required: Giedion  785-793, 542-553,  823-845; Choay , 27-32, 97-110. 

Suggested: Kostof 677-680, 695-707; Supplementary:  Howard, Wiebenson, Wright)

10  26) New Towns I: the New Capitals

12  27) New Towns II: England and Scandinavia

14  28) New Towns III: USA

Middlebury paper #3 due in class.

(Reading – Required: Giedion 640-645, 648-661; Doxiades 19-65, 87-192;  Mumford 482-524; begin reading Garreau)

17 29) Planned Extension

19   30) Center City and Redevelopment

21   31) Transportation and the Strip

(Reading -- Required: Choay 24-25; Giedion 793-813, 816-823, 845-856; Garreau; Supplementary: Venturi 3-119)

24  32) Skyscrapers

26  NO CLASS -- THANKSGIVING BREAK

28  NO CLASS -- THANKSGIVING BREAK

(Reading – Garreau)

Dec.

1   33) Traditionalist reactions

3   NO CLASS -- ANDRES IN NYC

5   34) Discussion -- Edge City.

Middlebury paper #4 due in class.

Pick up take-home exam questions.                                   

(Reading -- Required: Mumford 525-576; Garreau; handout, “The Science of Smart Growth”; Suggested: Kostof 707-712, 721-761)

Final examination due in Johnson 407A by 5:00 p.m., Tues. Dec. 16

A word to the wise paper writer… :
“Eye halve a spelling chequer. It came with my pea sea.
It plainly marques four my revue miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word and weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write. It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid, it nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error write. Its rarely ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it, I am shore your pleased two no.
Its letter perfect in it’s weigh. My chequer tolled me sew.”

[“Candidate for a Pullet Surprise,” Prof. Jerrold Zar, Northern Illinois University,
Reader’s Digest, May, 2004, p. 181.]