Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 University Catalog 
    
2018-2019 University Catalog [Archived Catalogue]

CRIT 335 Designing the City: Philadelphia From Penn to Bacon

College of Critical & Professional Studies

3 credits 45.0 hours
300 level undergraduate course

This course will explore important factors in the design and social life of cities across the United States by paying special attention to examples found in the city of Philadelphia throughout its history. Our readings will focus on the history and theory of architecture and urbanism (including primary documents as well as contemporary analyses and critiques). We will look at Philadelphia in order to better understand the relationship between human culture and the built environment in a specific context. While glancing back at its past - from William Penn through important moments in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - our primary focus will be on synthesizing this history with our own age, following the example of Ed Bacon’s design concept for Philadelphia. By looking at how different time periods have reinterpreted the city and its design, we can learn as much about the past as we might learn about ourselves. We will approach Philadelphia and other historic cities not as repositories for historical artifacts, but as dynamic and living environments.

Prerequisites COMP*102, COMP*102E, COMP*112, or COMP*112H

This course is not repeatable for credit.