Urban Design: Infrastructure

Catalog description

Serves as a laboratory for the investigation of New York City's infrastructure, using the definition of the word as a point of departure. In what ways can the city be perceived as a collective undertaking, with intricate components interwoven in continuous strands? What systems and forces give the city and its neighborhoods their current form, and what influences their future shape? Can these systems be dissected? What do these analyses tell us about the relationship of the city to its inhabitants and to the wider environment? Through lectures, reading assignments, discussions, and field trips, we investigate some of the major components of the city's infrastructure, such as the street grid, water supply, waste disposal, and subway system.