Course description
This course examines the evolution of Boston's architecture and urban form from the city's founding to the present. Through slide lectures, readings, guided and self-guided team tours, internet investigations, and in-class discussions, we study the works of major designers such as Charles Bulfinch, H. H. Richardson, Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Walter Gropius, I. M. Pei, Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry, Steven Holl, Machado-Silvetti, and Renzo Piano. Together we investigate the development of Boston's renown buildings, park landscapes, and neighborhoods as it evolved from the leading town in British North America to one of the great cities of the United States. Students learn about the forces that generated Boston's architecture and urban design and the city's important contributions to American architecture, and in the process receive an introduction to American architectural history. The course also features guest lectures by practicing architects.
