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Architecture of Territory: Territorial Design in Histories, Theories and Projects
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:36:00
Abstract
This lecture series sets up an agenda for widening the disciplinary field of architecture and urbanism from their focus on the city, or the urban in the narrow sense, to wider territorial scales, which correspond to the increasing scales of contemporary urbanization. It discusses the concepts of territory and urbanisation, and their implications for the work of architects and urbanists.
Objective
The course will enable students to critically discuss concepts of territory and urbanisation. It will invite students to revisit the history of architects’ work engaging with the problematic of urbanising territories and territorial organisation. The goal is to motivate and equip students to engage with territory in the present day and age, by setting out our contemporary urban agenda. The lectures are animated by a series of visual and conceptual exercises, usually on A4 sheets of paper. All original student contributions will be collected and bound together, creating a unique book-object. Some of the exercises are graded and count as proof of completion.
Content
Within the program, the five guest speakers are invited to open up perspectives on territory as Earth and the manifold meanings it embodies: Earth as a living world, a world-system, earth as soil, as land, as field, and even as dirt. By looking at the Earth and its ecologies, the guest speakers will propose novel and urgent approaches to territory and urbanisation: from “Gaia-graphy” of Earth's critical zones, and emergence of urban soil mapping as tool in urban design, to working with "dirt” in order to develop an ethics of care and maintenance for precarious environments. 17. 09. 2020 On Territory 24. 09. 2020 Architecture and Urbanisation 01. 10. 2020 Critical Zones: Sensors for Ghost Landscapes Guest lecture by ALEXANDRA ARÈNES 08. 10. 2020 Methods in Territorial Research and Design 15. 10. 2020 Urban Soils Mapping: Case West Lausanne Guest lecture by ANTOINE VIALLE 29. 10. 2019 Linking Soils Across the Urban-Rural Nexus Guest lecture by JOHAN SIX 05. 11. 2020 Planetary Urbanisation: Hinterland 12. 11. 2020 Arable Lands Lost Lands Guest lecture by CHARLOTTE MALTERRE-BARTHES 19. 11. 2020 Disappearance of the Countryside 26. 11. 2020 Dirty Theory: Dirt and Decolonisation Guest lecture by HÉLÉNE FRICHOT 03. 12. 2020 Our Common Territories: An Outlook
Resources
Learning Materials (Links)
- Literature
- Reader
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture |
Architecture of Territory: Territorial Design in Histories, Theories and Projects
No course on 22.10. (seminar week) as well as 10. and 17.12.2020 (before final critiques).
The lecturers will communicate the exact lesson times of ONLINE courses.
|
|
2 h weekly |