48-443 European Cities in the XIX Century

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

The course introduces the urban culture of XIX century Europe, presenting aspects of the broader historical context and then focusing on reading the effects of the XIX century urban transformations on the physical appearance, structures and image of presentday European cities. We will discuss how the physical environment and the political, financial and administrative structures of the city adapted to the needs of the masses, to new representative functions and to the challenges of metropolitan life. We will examine a series of examples in case study format and get to know a few important cities more in detail. Other cities will be the subject of the students research projects. The course also addresses the issue of the image of the city. We will examine the changing visual representation and the different perception of the character and peculiarities of the metropolis over time, using all kinds of visual material from photographs, historical maps, paintings, postcards and literary descriptions to excerpts from film and documentaries. We will focus on how the Nineteenth century image of each city still affects how it is viewed today.

Prerequisites: none listed

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