GBST 420
Architecture and Sustainability in a Global World Spring 2019
Division II Writing Skills
Cross-listed ARTH 420 / EXPR 420 / ENVI 420
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

What does it mean to create a sustainable built environment? What do such environments look like? Do they look the same for different people across different times and spaces? This course takes these questions as starting points in exploring the concept of architectural sustainability, defined as “minimizing the negative impact of built form on the surrounding landscape,” and how this concept can be interpreted not only from an environmental point of view, but from cultural, political, and social perspectives as well. Over the course of the class, students will explore different conceptualizations of sustainability and how these conceptualizations take form in built environments in response to the cultural identities, political agendas, social norms, gender roles, and religious values circulating in society at any given moment. Students will also travel to South Africa during Spring Break to participate in a township sustainability project. In recognizing the relationship between the way things are constructed (technique of assembly, technology, materials, process) and the deeper meanings behind the structural languages deployed, students will come to understand sustainability as a fundamentally context-specific ideal, and its manifestation within the architectural environment as a mode of producing dialogues about the anticipated futures of both cultural and architectural worlds.
The Class: Format: seminar; with travel component
Limit: 6
Expected: 6
Class#: 3062
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: response papers on class readings (2 pages), leading class discussions, spring break trip to South Africa, and final project/paper (15-20 pages) and presentation
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis; not available for the fifth course option
Prerequisites: none, although a course in art/architectural history would be advantageous;registered students will also be required to submit an online application provided by the instructor before enrollment in the course is confirmed
Enrollment Preferences: Art History majors, Environmental Studies majors
Materials/Lab Fee: Travel funds will be provided by a Class of 1963 Sustainability Development Grant
Distributions: Division II Writing Skills
Notes: meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under ARTH or ENVI or EXPR; meets Division 2 requirement if registration is under GBST
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
ARTH 420 Division I EXPR 420 Division I GBST 420 Division II ENVI 420 Division I

Class Grid

Course Catalog Archive Search

TERM/YEAR
TEACHING MODE
SUBJECT
DIVISION



DISTRIBUTION



ENROLLMENT LIMIT
COURSE TYPE
Start Time
End Time
Day(s)