Ecological Transport, Infrastructure & Bldg

Catalog description

The current environmental decline is a multifaceted predicament for our civilization. Previously, utopian projects have failed to reverse this ecological decay. This crisis demands robust solutions on a massive scale to deal with an immanent mega-urbanity. We attempt to re-envision vehicles, infrastructure, and buildings to meet the ecological needs of the future. Students consider questions such as: what is wrong with city systems today and what are the key environmental forces that shape them? Each student individually critiques and evaluates multiple engineered urban entities and subsequently prescribe new innovations. The objective is to establish the most scientifically plausible designs for a new socio-ecological world. Readings, historical figures, and works for the course include Janine M. Benyus, Ian McHarg, Richard T.T. Forman, John Todd, Anne Spirn, Geoffery Jellicoe, Jane Jacobs, Annie Leonard, Buckminster Fuller, William J. Mitchell, Mohsen Mostafavi, Ken Yeang, and others.