Skills in Planning: Reading and Representing the City

This class serves as an introduction to methods of analyzing, evaluating and recording the urban environment based on field observation. The aim is to give tools for reading and representing the city, to better prepare students without prior design background for the practicum sequence. The course will build skills fundamental to analyze urban spaces, residential areas and the spatial environment as a whole.

Requirements: Through a series of exercises, based on visual observation, field analysis, interviews, and other means, students will learn to draw on their senses and develop their ability to deduce, question, and test conclusions about how the environment is used and valued. Reading and participation in classes (20%), exercises submission (80%).