1

ARTHI 3438 Global Architecture: Spaces and Culture

Wednesdays 9:00am-12:00pm

(Favela, Rio de Janeiro) (Taksim Square, Istanbul) (Gated Community, Johannesburg)

Spring Semester 2014

Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Instructor: Nancy Demerdash Email: ndemerdash@saic.edu Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:00-3:00pm and/or by appointment (please inform the instructor in advance via email if you intend to attend office hours) Course Description: This upper-level course focuses on some of the pressing debates in architectural history and urban studies today. With more than half of the world population living in towns and cities, urban densities across the globe are exploding. These migrations and diasporic shifts render the relationship between the “local” and the “global” far more complicated. Notions of home/belonging continually destabilize, just as the ideal of social justice becomes ever more sought after in the built environment. Throughout the course, we will critically reflect on theoretical discourses and dimensions of space. We will also interrogate the currency, applicability, and usage of the term “global.” Out of these discussions, a number of questions will arise: How does spatial experience link to identity construction, to memory/memorialization? How is the urban fabric a laboratory for manipulation, and as a counterpoint, how is it also a vessel for revolutionary change? What happens to the built environment when the resulting social unities dissolve or cohere? What sorts of environmental repercussions do we face as a result of urban incursions?

  2

Since the nineteenth century, cities have become increasingly configured and reconfigured by the dynamics of different actors: architects, engineers, politicians, technocrats, plural publics and inhabitants. We will focus in particular on urbanity and urban space(s) in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as they pertain to (de)colonization/nationalism, political economies, global financial institutions, habitation and dwelling, ethics and human rights, cultural heritage, segregation and discrimination, revolution and violence, history and representation. Due to the varied nature of these issues and their disparate but often entangled participants, our methodological approach will be fully interdisciplinary, borrowing from fields like sociology, urban/cultural anthropology, critical theory and philosophy, architecture, and history. Rather than concentrate on specific geographies, the course will draw comparatively upon a number of urban examples—e.g. Doha, Shanghai, Mumbai, Cairo, Johannesburg, Casablanca, São Paulo, Detroit, Lagos, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Paris, Los Angeles, Tehran, Tokyo, etc.—in its engagement with the assigned readings. Our class will illuminate the city as a site, or topography of continual struggle and contestation. But perhaps most of all, this class will underscore that cities are processes; they are in perpetual transformation. Each class meeting will focus on one or several case studies that will engage the themes and concepts raised in that week’s required readings. The class will be divided into three rough parts, with a 15-minute break in between: lecture, student presentations/discussion, and on some meetings, an in-class film or documentary. Course Expectations: *Weekly Critical Précis: Students will be expected to demonstrate their reading, interpretation, and synthesis of the week’s literature by writing a single-spaced, 1-page critical précis. This is intended as an exercise of critical thought; more than just a summary of the authors’ arguments, this précis should incorporate the student’s own critiques, commentaries, points of contention, personal experience or general questions regarding the assigned texts. You might even cite a specific example—a building, neighborhood, city, site, or particular problem—through which to discuss the themes in the readings. This weekly writing assignment is so crucial as it enables us in the classroom—as a collective group of thinkers—to push beyond the scope of the reading and illuminate core issues behind these pressing debates.

  3

*Class Attendance and Participation: Class attendance is required, and will be recorded every week with a sign up sheet. If a student misses more than three classes, regardless of whether or not for a reasonable cause, s/he will fail the class if s/he does not withdraw from the class prior to the withdrawal deadline, with a transcript grade of “W.” Reasonable cause to miss a class might include: (1) illness or hospitalization; (2) observation of a religious holiday; (3) family illness or death. Active class participation is essential for this sort of collective thinking and discussion to flourish. **Every student brings a unique perspective and valuable contribution to the table. There’s no such thing as a “wrong answer” in this class. Please speak your mind, without hesitation—everyone has a voice! *Student-led Presentations: Each student will sign up for two seminar topics and will serve as a discussion co-leader for the specified seminar class. For one hour of every class, we will have two students present a historical work—a building, a city/urban plan, an architectural drawing or sketch, a photograph, an archival document, a construction/demolition site—and talk about that work within the framework of the week’s readings and themes. Fundamental questions will surely emerge. How do we think or perceive of certain buildings, neighborhoods, or spaces in terms of various theories, economic constraints, socio-cultural normatives, historical events, political apparatuses, etc.? *Final Research Paper & Presentation: Each student will be required to submit a final, 8-10 double-spaced research paper, based on a topic of the student’s choosing (in consultation with the instructor). These topics should relate to one thematic concept explored in the class. In the last class, students will present a 10-minute presentation on their final paper. **Topics should be confirmed by March 19, 2014. Course Objectives: One objective of this course is for the student to acquire an understanding of the deeply political stakes of the built environment through various scholarly debates. Another course objective is to develop a literacy of urban structures and cities; that is, one should be able to critique/discuss the features of any given building, plan, or urban space with fluidity and ease. Critical thinking and writing skills are honed and highly stressed in all aspects of the course. Regardless of your future occupation—as an architect, artist, writer,

  4

urban planner, designer, actor, etc.—writing and public speaking are skills that will follow you throughout your careers. Evaluation & Grading: According to the course expectations listed above, students’ grades will be distributed on the basis of those four core components: active class participation and regular attendance; weekly précis or reading synopses (1-2 single-spaced pages); weekly student-led presentations; and a final research paper (topics to be approved with the instructor beforehand). Every assignment or requirement will receive an A/B/C/D/F grade, which enables the instructor to assess your varied degrees of progress; however, your final grades will be determined along the university’s CR/NCR/INC system. Class participation/regular attendance: 20% Weekly 1-page précis: 40% Weekly student-led presentations: 10% Final 8-10 page research paper & final presentation: 30% Plagiarism: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago prohibits “dishonesty such as cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the School” (Students’ Rights and Responsibilities, Student Handbook). Plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft. One plagiarizes when one presents another’s work as one’s own, even if one does not intend to. The penalty for plagiarizing may also result in some loss of some types of financial aid, and repeated offenses may lead to expulsion from the School. To learn more about plagiarism and how to avoid it, you can (1) go to the portal, select the “Resources” tab, and click on “Plagiarism” under “Academic Advising and Student Success,” or (2) read about it in the Student Handbook under the section “Academic Misconduct.” Citations: Along those lines, it cannot be stressed enough: cite, cite, CITE! Even though this course is interdisciplinary in scope, art and architectural historians typically follow the Chicago Manual of Style form of citation. You can access two excellent online resources that can aid you in making proper citations. I strongly urge you to review these websites before submitting your writing assignments. http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch05_o.html

  5

In-Class Laptop/Tablet Usage: Laptops and tablets are permitted in class however, they are to be used strictly for note-taking and referencing readings. Cell phones should be put on silent for the duration of the class so as to not distract others. Disability and Learning Resource Center (DLRC): If you have a learning disability, please contact this center first. The instructor cannot accommodate your needs without receiving a notice from the DLRC first. If assignments are submitted, and then I receive a notice from the DLRC, the instructor cannot allow re-dos on the already submitted work. Accommodations for disabilities cannot be made retroactively; please bring it to my attention at the beginning of the class. DLRC office phone: (312)-499-4278 Writing Center @SAIC: This class is undoubtedly writing intensive. If you need help with putting your thoughts together on paper, I recommend that you take full advantage of the services offered at the Writing Center here on campus. Tutors work with students for one-hour sessions to improve their writing. According to the website, there are walk-in hours Monday-Thursday 4:15-7:15pm. MacLean Center 112 S. Michigan Ave., B1-03 Phone: (312)-345-3588 wcenter@saic.edu Required Texts: (All required texts are available for purchase at the DePaul University Loop Campus Official Bookstore, 1 E Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604; all articles and chapters not l isted will be on the course online portal, Canvas ) **Mike Davis, Planet of Slums (Verso, 2007) **Arturo Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World (Princeton University Press, 2011) **Jane Jacobs, Edge of Empire: Postcolonialism and the City (Routledge, 1996)

  6

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Semester Schedule & Reading List: Week 1—Wednesday, January 29th: Introduction/Overview: Vocabulary for the “Global” Enrique Dussel, “’The World-System’: Europe as ‘Center’ and its ‘Periphery’ Beyond Eurocentrism,” in P. Lange-Churion, E. Mendieta, eds., Latin America and Postmodernity: A Reader (New York: Humanity Books, 2001), 93-121. Saskia Sassen, “Rebuilding the Global City: Economy, Ethnicity, and Space,” Social Justice, vol. 20, no. 3/4 (53-54, Fall-Winter 1993), 32-50.

*In-class film excerpts: Urbanized (2011) Week 2—February 5th: (Post)Colonialism, Modernity, Urban Planning Jacobs, Jane. Edge of Empire: Postcolonialism and the City (Routledge, 1996), 1-37,103-163. Mbembe, Achille. “Provisional Notes on the Postcolony,” Africa 62:1 (1992): 3-37. P. Misselwitz and Eyal Weizman, “Military Operations as Urban Planning,” in Territories (Berlin: Institute for Contemporary Art, 2003), 272-285. http://www.metamute.org/editorial/articles/military-operations-urban-planning Von Osten, Marion. “In Colonial Modern Worlds,” in Colonial Modern: Aesthetics of the Past, Rebellions of the Future, edited by Tom Avermaete, Serhat Karakayali, Marion von Osten (London: Black Dog Publishing, 2010). Week 3—February 12th: CLASS WILL BE LED BY A SUBSTITUTE INSTRUCTOR; COURSE INSTRUCTOR @ CONFERENCE

  7

Week 4—February 19th: Nationhood, Identity and the Urban Landscape Balibar, Etienne. “The Nation Form: History and Ideology,” in Etienne Balibar and Immanuel Wallerstein, Race, Nation, Class: Ambiguous Identities (London: Verso, 1991), 86-106. Federico Freschi, “Postapartheid Publics and the Politics of Ornament: Nationalism, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Community in the Decorative Program of the New Constitutional Court, Johannesburg,” Africa Today, vol. 54, no.2 (Winter 2007): 27-49. Vikramaditya Prakash, “Identity Production in Postcolonial Indian Architecture: Re-Covering What We Never Had,” in Gülsüm Baydar Nalbantoglu and Wong Chong Thai, eds., Postcolonial Space(s) (New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 1997), 39-52. *In-class Vimeo: Casablanca and Chandigarh Week 5—February 26th: Segregation: Workers, Migrants, Refugees and the City Teresa Caldeira, “From Modernism to Neoliberalism in São Paulo: Reconfiguring the City and its Citizens,” in Andreas Huyssen ed., Other Cities, Other Worlds: Urban Imaginaries in a Globalizing Age (Durham, NC; London: Duke University Press, 2008), 51-77. Ron Johnston, Michael Poulsen, and James Forrest, “The Geography of Ethnic Residential Segregation: A Comparative Study of Five Countries,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers, vol. 97, no. 4 (December 2007): 713-738. Ackbar Abbas, “Building, dwelling, drifting: Migrancy and the limits of architecture. Building Hong Kong: From migrancy to disappearance,” Postcolonial Studies 1(2) (1998): 185-199. Mikhail Blinnikov, Andrey Shanin, Nikolay Sobolev and Lyudmila Volkova, “Gated Communities of the Moscow Green Belt: Newly Segregated Landscapes and the Suburban Russian Environment,” GeoJournal, vol. 66, no. 1-2 (2006): 65-81.

  8

Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon and Peter Miller eds., The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality (University of Chicago Press, 1991), 87-104. Week 6—March 5th: Development Theory: Institutional (Dis)Interests? (e.g. World Bank, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund) David Harvey, Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a Theory of Uneven Geographical Development (London; New York: Verso, 2006), 71-116. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Empire (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000), xi-21. Arturo Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World (Princeton University Press, 2011), 3-20, 212-226. Week 7—March 12th: Slums, Favelas, and Bidonvil les: Ethics, the State, the Market and Self-Built Habitats Davis, Mike, Planet of Slums (Verso, 2007), 1-94. Moyo, Dambisa, Dead Aid (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2009), ix-47. *In-class Film: Rem Koolhaas, Lagos: Wide & Close (2006) Manish Chalana, “Slumdogs vs. Millionaires: Balancing Urban Informality and Global Modernity in Mumbai, India,” Journal of Architectural Education, 63:2 (2013): 25-37. Week 8—March 19th: Neoliberal urbanism and the Conflicts with Everyday Life David Wilson, Dean Beck, Adrian Bailey, “Neoliberal-Parasitic Economies and Space Building: Chicago’s Southwest Side,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers, vol. 99, no. 3 (July 2009): 604-626.

  9

Matthew Charles Benwell, James Haselip, and José Antonio Borello, “Housing, Security, and Employment in Post-Neoliberal Buenos Aires,” Latin American Perspectives, 40(2012): 146-167. *In-class Film: Detropia (2012) Recommended: David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press), 1-86. Week 9—March 19th: In-class meetings/conference on paper topics **In this class meeting, each student will meet with the instructor for about 10 minutes to check on the student’s proposed paper topics. Please bring your preliminary paper abstract (500 words) and bibliography to the meeting.** Week 10—March 26th: Urban Encroachments on the Environment David Harvey, Justice, Nature, and the Geography of Difference (Wiley-Blackwell, 1997), 1-15, 403-438. Victor Papanek, “Environmental Design: Pollution, Crowding, Ecology,” in Design for the Real World (Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1984), pages TBA. *In-class Film: e2: The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious, Episode 6: Deeper Shades of Green (2007) Week 11—April 2nd: Cultural Heritage, Preservation and UNESCO Gustavo F. Araoz, “World-Heritage Historic Urban Landscapes: Defining and Protecting Authenticity,” Association for Preservation Technology Bulletin, vol. 39, no. 2-3 (2008): 33-37. Laurajane Smith, The Uses of Heritage (London: Routledge, 2006), “The Idea of Heritage.” Rodney Harrison ed., Understanding the Politics of Heritage (Manchester University Press, 2009), “The Politics of Heritage.” UNESCO, Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=48857&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

  10

http://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/638 *In-class vimeo: Hassan Fathy’s New Gourna Week 12—April 9th: Erasure and Reconstruction: Memory and Claims to the City Maurice Halbwachs, On Collective Memory, ed. Lewis A. Coser (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992), 46-51. Annie Coombes, “Translating the Past: Apartheid Monuments in Post-Apartheid South Africa,” in History After Apartheid (Duke Univ. Press, 2003): 19-53. Week 13—April 16th: Revolutionary Spaces Janet Abu-Lughod, Race, Space, and Riots in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles (Oxford University Press, 2012), Introduction. Henri Lefebvre, The Urban Revolution (Minnesota; London: University of MN Press, 2003 [1970]), vii-22, 181-188. Setha Low and Neil Smith, The Politics of Public Space (Routledge, 2005), pages TBA. In-class Film: potential guest lecture by filmmaker Peter Snowdon, The Uprising (2013), TBD; otherwise, The Battle of Algiers (1966) Week 14—April 23rd: Course Recap, LAST CLASS MEETING **FINAL PAPER/PROJECT PRESENTATIONS** Week 15—April 30th: Critique Week, NO CLASS MEETING