Course detail

Modern Development and Theory of Urban Design 2

FA-UT2-TAcad. year: 2025/2026

The course introduces town planning and its considerations in the 20th and 21st century. The seminars focus on modern concepts of urban design and their contemporary interpretation. The course emphasizes understanding of relations between the material base of towns and cities and technology, economics, politics, demography and culture. The classes are based on reading of theoretical texts and their subsequent interpretation via graphical presentations. During semester every student will individually prepare two presentations on selected topics. As the final outcome, students will select a topic and write a critical text considering a particular situation, project, historical event, or personal experience. The main aim of the text is to apply the gained theoretical knowledge on the research topic.
In the study programmes “Architecture and Urban Design” the course is part of the theoretical courses.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

3

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Department

Department of Urban Design (UU)

Entry knowledge

Not applicable.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Participation in classes: 80 % as a minimum.
Elaboration and presentation of two topics.
Regular consultations of work on presentations and texts – twice a semester at minimum.
Submission of final written seminar paper.
Evaluation includes all the above given requirements. Students are awarded graded credit.
Participation in the classes is monitored via presence lists and consultations of presentation drafts and seminar papers are required. Approximately one week before the presentation in the seminar, students must consult the concept of the presentation and the understanding of assigned texts and topics. Consultations of seminar paper drafts will occur in the second half of the semester. Students are expected to participate actively in the classes and discussions. Absences are compensated via self-study.
Upon the agreement with the teacher, the absences in the classroom can be compensated via online participation.

Aims

The aim of the course is to familiarize the students with the basic theory of modern development of towns and cities, as well as to learn critical thinking and logical argumentation in their individual work. The course topics are investigated from various angles; students do complementary research and explore broader historical, geographical, and political contexts. The resulting texts and presentations must comply with the format and referencing of sources.
  • Students will learn how to critically evaluate a wide spectrum of theoretical texts and films.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

BORRIES, Friedrich von. Who's Afraidof Niketown?: Nikeurbanism, Branding And the City of Tomorrow. Rotterdam: Episode Publishers, 2004, 104 s. ISBN 90-597-3014-3. (CS)
BRENNER, Neil. CHRISTIAN, Schmidt. Planetary Urbanisation. In GANDY, Matthew. Urban constellations. Berlin: Jovis, 2011. s. 10 – 13. ISBN 3868591184. (CS)
FROMONOT, Françoise. Learning from Philadelphia. In KRASNY, Elke. Hands-on Urbanism 1850–2012: The Right to Green, 2012. MCCM Creations, 2014, s. 314 – 321. ISBN 9881521742. (CS)
GARREAU, Joel. Chapter 4. Detroit – The Automobile, Individualism, and Time. In GARREAU, Joel. Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. New York: Anchor Books, 1992, s. 99-138. ISBN 0385424345. (CS)
GRAHAM, Stephen. Cities as Strategic Sites: Place Annihilation and Urban Geopolitics. In GRAHAM, Stephen. Cities, War, and Terrorism: Towards an Urban Geopolitics. Malden, MA: Wiley- Blackwell, 2004, s. 31-53. ISBN 978-1-4051-1574-2. (CS)
HARVEY, David. From Fordism to Flexible Accumulation. In HARVEY, David. The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Cambridge: Wiley- Blackwell, 1994. s. 141-188. ISBN 9780631162940. (CS)
HOWARD, Ebenezer. Garden Cities of To-Morrow (Being the Second Edition of „To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform“), Charleston, South Carolina: NabuPress, 1902. (2011), 174 s. ISBN 1272142752 (CS)
JAYNE, Mark. Cities and Consumption. New York: Routledge, 2006, 244 s. ISBN 978-041-5327-343. (CS)
KOOLHAAS, Rem. What Ever Happened to Urbanism? In O.M.A., KOOLHAAS, Rem. MAU, Bruce. S, M, L, XL. New York: The Monacelli Press, 1995, s. 959 – 971. ISBN 978-1885254016. (CS)
MINTON, Anna. Clean and Safe. In MINTON, Anna. Ground Control: Fear and happiness in the twenty-first-century city. London; New York : Penguin Books, 2009, s. 37 – 60. ISBN 0141033916. (CS)
MINTON, Anna. Chapter 3 "Clean and Safe", in: Ground Control: Fear and happiness in the twenty-first-century city, Penguin, 2009 (CS)
MUMFORD, Eric. The discourse of CIAM urbanism, 1928-1959. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000. ISBN 0585296146. (CS)
MUSIL, Jiří. Co je urbanizace? In HORSKÁ, Pavla. MAUR, Eduard. MUSIL, Jiří. (eds.). Zrod velkoměsta: urbanizace českých zemí a Evropa. Praha: Paseka, 2002, s. 7 - 53. ISBN 9788071854098. (CS)
NORMAN, Nils. The Urbanomics Archive. In: HEINDL, Gabu (ed.). position alltag, architecture in the context of everyday life. Graz: Haus der Architektur, 2009, 170 s. ISBN 39-011-7468-0. (CS)
OSWALT, Philipp. Shrinking cities: International Research. New York: Hatje Cantz, 2005. ISBN 37757171102. (CS)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme N_A+U Master's 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory-optional
    specialization --- (do 2022) , 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory-optional

Type of course unit

 

Seminar

26 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer