VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.
Global History of Urban Design I
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:16:15
Abstract
This course focuses on the history of the design of cities, as well as on the ideas, processes and actors that engender and lead their development and transformation. The history of urban design will be approached as a cross-cultural field of knowledge that integrates scientific, economic and technical innovation as well as social and cultural advances.
Objective
The lectures deal mainly with the definition of urban design as an independent discipline, which maintains connections with other disciplines (politics, sociology, geography) that are concerned with the transformation of the city. The aim is to make students conversant with the multiple theories, concepts and approaches of urban design as they were articulated throughout time in a variety of cultural contexts, thus offering a theoretical framework for students' future design work.
Content
In the first semester the genesis of the objects of study, the city, urban culture and urban design, are introduced and situated within their intellectual, cultural and political contexts: 01. The History and Theory of the City as Project 02. Of Rituals, Water and Mud: The Urban Revolution in Mesopotamia and the Indus 03: The Idea of the Polis: Rome, Greece and Beyond 04: The Long Middle Ages and their Counterparts: From the Towns of Tuscany to Delhi 05: Between Ideal and Laboratory: Of Middle Eastern Grids and European Renaissance Principles 06: Of Absolutism and Enlightenment: Baroque, Defense and Colonization 07: The City of Labor: Company Towns as Cross-Cultural Phenomenon 08: Garden Cities of Tomorrow: From the Global North to the Global South and Back Again 09: Civilized Wilderness and City Beautiful: The Park Movement of Olmsted and The Urban Plans of Burnham 10: The Extension of the European City: From the Viennese Ringstrasse to Amsterdam Zuid
Resources
Lecture Notes
Prior to each lecture a chapter of the reader (Skript) will be made available through the webpage of the Chair. These chapters will provide an introduction to the lecture, the basic visual references of each lecture, key dates and events, as well as references to the compulsory and additional reading.
Literature
There are three books that will function as main reference literature throughout the course: -Ching, Francis D. K, Mark Jarzombek, and Vikramditya Prakash. A Global History of Architecture. Hoboken: Wiley, 2017. -Ingersoll, Richard. World Architecture: A Cross-Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. -James-Chakraborty, Kathleen. Architecture Since 1400. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014. These books will be reserved for consultation in the ETH Baubibliothek, and will not be available for individual loans. A list of further recommended literature will be found within each chapter of the reader (Skript).
Learning Materials (Links)
- Main link
- Information
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC , DS , MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- session examination
- Mode
- written 60 minutes
- Aids
- None
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture with exercise |
Global History of Urban Design I
No course 26.10 (seminar week) and in the last two semester weeks (final critiques).
|
|
2 h weekly |
Offered In
-
Science in Perspective (In “Science in Perspective”-courses students learn to reflect on ETH’s STEM subjects from the perspective of humanities, political and social sciences. Only the courses listed below will be recognized as "Science in Perspective" courses.)
-
Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence (SiP courses are recommended for bachelor students after their first-year examination and for all master- or doctoral students. All SiP courses are listed in Type A. Courses listed under Type B are only recommendations for enrollment for specific departments.)
-
Type B: Reflection About Subject-Specific Methods and Contents (Subject-specific courses. Particularly relevant for students interested in those subjects. All these courses are also listed under the category “Typ A”, and every student can enroll in these courses.)
-
-
-
-
-
Electives (The entire course programs of ETH Zurich and Universitiy Zurich are open to the students to individual selection. The students have themselves to check whether they meet the admission requirements for a course.)
-
-
-