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SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS

Voyage: Fall 2013
Discipline: Architecture
ARCH 2500-102: World Cities
Lower Division
Faculty Name: Phoebe Crisman

Pre-requisites: none


COURSE DESCRIPTION
Cities are enduring and remarkable human artifacts that have been shaped in response to climate,
geography, culture, commerce, aesthetics and technology. In the present era, changing modes of
communication, energy utilization and transportation require new design responses based on
historical precedents and humanistic considerations. This course will examine the rich physical
complexity of the cities that we will encounter on our voyage, including numerous UNESCO
World Heritage sites. A comparative approach will allow us to understand the similarities and
differences between cities as diverse as Antwerp, Casablanca, Accra, Cape and Buenos Aires.
Each city will be analyzed as a specific material and spatial manifestation of intertwined past and
present forces, including the social, economic, political, religious and environmental conditions
of each distinct location. The future of these cities in the age of globalization will be considered.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
- Gain knowledge of several of the worlds major cities using a comparative approach.
- Encourage a greater awareness and comprehension of past, present and future modes of human
settlement, and especially those that students will encounter on their voyage.
- Encourage a sound understanding of urbanism as an expression of human culture and intention.
- Develop skills to understand or read physical form and space.
- Learn how to represent those perceptions through written and verbal expression.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

AUTHOR: Kostof, Spiro
TITLE: The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meaning Throughout History
PUBLISHER: Bulfinch Press
ISBN #: 0821220160
DATE/EDITION: 1993, reprint

AUTHOR: Norwich, John Julius
TITLE: The Great Cities in History [GCH]
PUBLISHER: Thames & Hudson
ISBN #: 978-0-500-25154-6
DATE/EDITION: 2009
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TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE (B day, 8:00 9:15)

B1- August 27: What is a City?
Mumford, Lewis. What is a City? (from The Culture of Cities, 1937), The Lewis Mumford
Reader, Donald Miller, ed. (1986): 104-107.
Kostof, Spiro. The City as Artifact, The City Shaped (CS): 9-41.
St Petersburg Russia's Window on the West, GCH: 209-212.
Stockholm and Sweden's Baltic Empire, GCH: 200-202.
Moscow Capital Without a Court, GCH: 222-225.

August 29-September 1: St. Petersburg

B2- September 2: Understanding Urban Form
Lynch, Kevin. The City Image and Its Elements, (1960), The City Reader: 98-102.
Lynch, Kevin. Form Values in Urban History, Good City Form: 5-36.

B3- September 4: International Port Cities: Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp + Venice
Lbeck and the Cities of the Hanseatic League, GCH: 124-126.
Amsterdam and the Dutch Republic, GCH: 187-191.
Venice Mistress of the Mediterranean, GCH: 130-133.

September 5-8: Hamburg

B4- September 10: Examining Contemporary Global Forces
Clark, David. Global Patterns and Perspectives, Urban World/Global City: 1-11.
Soja, Edward. Metropolis in Crisis, Postmetropolis: 95-116.

September 12-14: Antwerp / September 15-16: Le Havre

B5- September 17: Georgian Streets, Squares + Terraced Houses: Dublin + London
London Renaissance to Restoration, GCH: 195-199.
Dublin and Georgian Elegance, GCH: 203-205.
London from Queen Victoria to Big Bang, GCH: 230-233.

B6- September 19: Grand Boulevards and Regular Grids: Paris + Lisbon
Paris Pinnacle of Gothic Architecture, GCH: 120-123.
Lisbon in the Age of Discovery, GCH: 156-158.
Paris in the Time of Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann, GCH: 226-229.

September 20-23: Dublin

B7- September 25: Medieval Medinas and Mat Urbanism: Casablanca, Fez, Cairo + Mecca
Morris, A.E.J. Islamic Cities of the Middle East, History of Urban Form: 365-401.
Mecca Sacred City of Islam, GCH: 82-85.
Cordoba Brilliant Capital of Moorish Spain, GCH: 96-99.
Cairo Centre of Islamic Civilization, GCH: 112-115.
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September 27-28: Lisbon / transit / Sept 30-October 1: Cadiz
October 2: No Class/Study Day/Conference

October 3-6: Casablanca

B8- October 7: City as Palimpsest: Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul
Gates, Charles. Late Antique Transformations: Rome, Jerusalem, and Constantinople in the
Age of Constantine, Ancient Cities: 398-411.
Constantinople Christian Capital in the East, GCH: 78-81.
Istanbul City of the Sultans, GCH: 164-167.

B9- October 9: Organic Urban Patterns
Kostof. The City Shaped: 43-69.

October 10: Study day

B10- October 12: Grid as Global Phenomenon
Kostof. The City Shaped: 95-157.
DUE: last day to submit Field Report #1

B11- October 14: Capetown, Accra and the Contemporary African City
Freund, Bill. The Post-Colonial African City, The African City: A History (2007): 142-169.
Benin West African City of the Ancestors, GCH: 138-139.

October 15-18: Takoradi and Tema
October 19: Study day

B12- October 21: MIDTERM EXAM

October 23: Study day

B13- October 24: Postcolonial Urban Hybridity
Cunningham, Susan. Exporting Planning: the Colonial and Neo-Colonial Experience, G.
Cherry, ed., Shaping an Urban World: Planning in the Twentieth Century: 203-226.

October 26-30: Cape Town
October 31: Study day

B14- November 1: Past and Future Urbanization in Asia: Beijing + Tokyo
Selugga, Malte. Development in China: High Speed, High Rise, High Price, Topos: 84-91.
Beijing and the Forbidden City, GCH: 176-179.
Shanghai China's Super-City, GCH: 286-289.
Kyoto Pleasure Gardens and Vermilion Palaces, GCH: 180-183.
Tokyo City of Constant Change, GCH: 281-285.
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B15- November 3: Capitals of a (sub)Continent: Delhi + Canberra
Kostof. The Political Diagram, The City Shaped: 174-207.
Joardar, Souro. New Delhi: Imperial Capital to Capital of the Worlds Largest Democracy,
Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities: 182-195.
New Delhi Symbol in Stone, GCH: 246-249.

November 4: Study day

B16- November 6: Ancient Cities: Greek + Roman Foundations
Athens Birthplace of Democracy, GCH: 44-47.
Rome in the Age of Augustus, GCH: 60-65.
DUE: last day to submit Field Report #2

November 8: Study day

B17- November 9: Old World Cities to New World Cities
Low, Setha. Cultural Meaning of the Plaza: The History of the Spanish-American Gridplan-
Plaza Urban Design, R. Rotenberg ed. The Cultural Meaning of Urban Space: 75-93.
Tenochtitlan Aztec City in the Lake, GCH: 146-149.
Mexico City Utopia in the New World, GCH: 192-194.

B18- November 11: A Mlange of European Influences: Buenos Aires
Gutierrez, R. Buenos Aires, A Great European City, A. Almandoz, ed., Planning Latin
Americas Capital Cities: 45-74.
Buenos Aires City of Permanent Promise, GCH: 264-265.

BUENOS AIRES FIELD LAB - November 12
November 12-16: Buenos Aires

B19- November 18: Extreme Topography and Informal Settlements: Rio de Janeiro
Davis, Mike, Planet of Slums: tba
Hays-Mitchell, M and B. Godfrey. Cities of the World: 135-165.

November 20-22: Rio de Janeiro
November 23: Study day

B20- November 24: How Cities Meet the Sky
Kostof. The Urban Skyline, The City Shaped: 279-335.

B21- November 26: Utopian Visions in the New World: Brasilia + Washington, DC
Kostof. The Grand Manner, The City Shaped: 209-218.
Washington DC Ideology Made Visible, GCH: 238-241.
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November 27: Study day

B22- November 29: Preserving the Past: Salvador + Havana
del Rio, V., de Alcantara, D.. Revisiting the Pelourinho: Preservation, cultural Heritage and
Place Marketing in Salvador, Contemporary Urbanism in Brazil: Beyond Braslia: 144-163.

December 1: Study day

December 2 -5: Manaus

December 6: Study day

B23- December 7: The Future of Sustainable Cities + the case of Curitiba
Rabinovitch, Jonas and Leitman, Josef. Urban Planning in Curitiba, S. Wheeler and T.
Beatley, eds., The Sustainable Urban Development Reader: 319-329.
Marshall, Richard. Urban Projects in a Global World, Emerging Urbanity: Global Urban
Projects in the Asia Pacific Rim (2003): 9-28.

B24- December 9: Urban World Concluding Discussion
DUE: last day to submit Field Report #3 Buenos Aires


FIELD WORK

FIELD LAB: Attendance and participation in the all day Field Lab is MANDATORY.
Please do not book individual travel plans or a SAS sponsored trip that day. This is the only field
lab for the course and it counts for 20% of your grade. There will be no excused absences. Missing
all or a portion of the field lab will result in the forfeiture of 20% of the total course grade.

An Interpretive Walk Through Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, a vibrant city of elegant civic spaces and beautiful buildings is an excellent
place to experience and analyze course concepts. Beginning at the MV Explorer in Puerto
Nuevo, we will walk through the Retiro district to examine the infrastructural nexus of rail,
river and roadway and public space at lovely Plaza San Martin. We will study diverse types
of streets and public spaces throughout the downtown. We will walk with hundreds of
Porteos on pedestrianized Florida Street. We will enter the Metropolitan Cathedral and
Cabildo at Plaza de Mayo, where several major avenues radiate outward from this urban
node. We will study the distinct street typologies and types of architecture. For instance, the
Art Nouveau and Neoclassical buildings along Avenida de Mayo are reminiscent of Paris or
Barcelona. We will encounter the Obelisk at the crossing of Avenida Corrientes and Avenida
9 de Julio, which is one of the widest avenues in the world. Later we will explore the upscale
Recoleta district with its grand hotels, mansions and embassies along Avenida Alvear.
Avenida del Libertador connects downtown to districts in the northwest, passing by
museums, gardens and the historic Recoleta Cemetery. We will return to the Port via the
Underground (subte) to experience that important public transit system. Along the route
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students will compare and contrast the features of these different districts, noting the relevant
and enduring qualities that define the city. The final Field Report (#3) must be written using
materials gathered during the Buenos Aires Field Lab.

FIELD REPORTS: City Journal

Students will incorporate their experiences of our ports of call into the course curriculum by
creating 3 City Journal field reports that document the visit to Buenos Aires and 2 other
cities along our journey.
Each City Journal field report must combine text and images (photos and/or drawings) that
convey personal perceptions of the place in relation to course readings and lectures. Back on
the ship, present your thoughts and materials in a concise, three-page paper. More details will
be distributed and discussed during the first class.
Each report should include:
o brief summary of the students field notes
o written analysis of relationships between readings and the students experiences
o photographic or drawn analysis
o conclusions about ways in which the physical form and space of the city manifests the
climate, geography, culture, commerce, aesthetics and technology of the place.
Field report grading rubric: effective application of course concepts, level of detail and
insight, clarity of organization and effectiveness of illustrations.
Students are encouraged to take SAS-organized City Tours to gain an overview of a city and
note what places should be revisited. Planned wanderings are important as well.


METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC

City Journal Field Reports (Buenos Aires Field Lab + 2 others): 3 at 20% each..................... 60%

Midterm Exam .......................................................................................................................... 20%

Class Attendance and Participation ...........................................................................................20%

Individual Participation and Contribution to Classroom Learning
Each student is expected to attend class, fully engage with the readings, visual materials and
lectures, and contribute to the learning of others. Please think of class participation as your
responsibility to add energy and insight to our discussion and to share your thoughtful
perspectives. The readings and cities may be interpreted in a variety of ways and students should
formulate initial positions and questions to offer in the class discussion.
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RESERVE LIBRARY LIST

AUTHOR: Morris, A.E.J.
TITLE: History of Urban Form
PUBLISHER: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0582301548
DATE/ED: 1996, 3rd

AUTHOR: Davis, Mike
TITLE: Planet of Slums
PUBLISHER: Verso
ISBN: 9781844670222
DATE/ED: 2007, 1st
AUTHOR: Gates, Charles
TITLE: Ancient Cites. The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and
Egypt, Greece and Rome
PUBLISHER: Routledge
ISBN: 0415498647
DATE/ED: 2003/2nd


ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS

AUTHOR: Mumford, Lewis
CHAPTER: What is a City?
BOOK: The Lewis Mumford Reader (Donald Miller, ed.)
PUB/DATE: Pantheon Books, 1986
PAGES: 104-107

AUTHOR: Lynch, Kevin
CHAPTER: The City Image and Its Elements
BOOK: The City Reader (Richard LeGates and Frederic Stout, eds.)
PUB/DATE: Routledge, 1996
PAGES: 98-102

AUTHOR: Lynch, Kevin
CHAPTER: Form Values in Urban History
BOOK: Good City Form
PUB/DATE: MIT Press, 1981
PAGES: 5-36

AUTHOR: Clark, David
CHAPTER: Global Patterns and Perspectives
BOOK: Urban World/Global City
PUB/DATE: 1996
PAGES: 1-11
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AUTHOR: Soja, Edward
CHAPTER: Metropolis in Crisis
BOOK: Postmetropolis: Critical Studies in Cities and Regions
PUB/DATE: 2000

AUTHOR: Morris, A.E.J.
CHAPTER: Islamic Cities of the Middle East
BOOK: History of Urban Form
PUB/DATE: Wiley, 1994
PAGES: 365-401

AUTHOR: Gates, Charles
ARTICLE: Late Antique Transformations: Rome, Jerusalem, and Constantinople in the Age
of Constantine
BOOK: Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and
Egypt, Greece and Rome
PUB/DATE: Routledge, 2003
PAGES: 398-411

AUTHOR: Freund, Bill
ARTICLE: The Post-Colonial African City
BOOK: The African City: A History
PUB/DATE: 2007
PAGES: 142-169

AUTHOR: Cherry, Gordon, ed. (Cunningham, Susan. chapter author)
ARTICLE: Exporting Planning: the Colonial and Neo-Colonial Experience
BOOK: Shaping an Urban World: Planning in the Twentieth Century
PUB/DATE: Mansell, 1980
PAGES: 203-226

AUTHOR: Selugga, Malte
ARTICLE: Development in China: High Speed, High Rise, High Price
JOURNAL: Topos, Vol. 64, 2008
PAGES: 84-91

AUTHOR: Gordon, David, ed. (Souro Joardar, chapter author)
ARTICLE: New Delhi: Imperial Capital to Capital of the Worlds Largest Democracy
BOOK: Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities
PUB/DATE: Routledge, 2006
PAGES: 182-195.

AUTHOR: Brunn, Stanley. ed. (Hays-Mitchell, M. and Godfrey, B. chapter authors)
CHAPTER: Cities of South America (Ch. 4)
BOOK: Cities of the World: World Regional Urban Development
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PUB/DATE: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 3rd edition, May 2003
PAGES: 139-165

AUTHOR: R. Rotenberg and G. McDonogh, eds. (Setha Low, chapter author)
CHAPTER: Cultural Meaning of the Plaza: The History of the Spanish-American Gridplan-
Plaza Urban Design
BOOK: The Cultural Meaning of Urban Space
PUB/DATE: Praeger, 1993
PAGES: 75-93.

AUTHOR: Almandoz, Arturo ed. (Gutierrez, R. chapter author)
CHAPTER: Buenos Aires, A Great European City
BOOK: Planning Latin Americas Capital Cities 1850-1950
PUB/DATE: Routledge; 1st edition, 2002
PAGES: 45-74

AUTHOR: del Rio, Vicente
ARTICLE: Revisiting the Pelourinho: preservation, cultural heritage and place marketing in
Salvador, Bahia
BOOK: Contemporary urbanism in Brazil: Beyond Braslia
PUB/DATE: University Press of Florida, 2009
PAGES: 144-163

AUTHOR: Rabinovitch, Jonas and Josef Leitman
ARTICLE: Urban Planning in Curitiba
BOOK: The Sustainable Urban Development Reader
EDITORS: Stephen M. Wheeler and Timothy Beatley, eds.
PUB/DATE: Routledge, 2nd ed., 2009
PAGES: 319-329

AUTHOR: Marshall, Richard
ARTICLE: Urban Projects in a Global World
BOOK: Emerging Urbanity: Global Urban Projects in the Asia Pacific Rim
PUB/DATE: London: Spon, 2003
PAGES: 9-28

HONOR CODE
Semester at Sea students enroll in an academic program administered by the University of
Virginia, and thus bind themselves to the Universitys honor code. The code prohibits all acts of
lying, cheating, and stealing. Please consult the Voyagers Handbook for further explanation of
what constitutes an honor offense.

Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: On my honor
as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment. The pledge
must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed [signed].