Sharing Space: Fantasy and Form in German Architectural Imaginations

Catalog description

From Neuschwanstein’s fairy tale palace and faux ruins at Sanssouci to Bauhaus functionality, German architectural ideas shape how people live, work, and socialize in German-speaking areas and beyond. This course will explore the planning and construction of German environments at historical junctures from 1750 through today to investigate how architecture and urban design inform values and shape societies. How do built environments reflect social commitments, and what do architectural styles signal about how we want or ought to live together? What makes a space a place? How do migration and climate change stress design, and how can architecture respond? By examining German design principles, movements, and debates, we will investigate the construction of community and place in German-speaking areas as relevant more widely. Taught in German.