Spring 2010

LAS 381 • LATIN URBIS: CITIES LAT AM HIS

Course Description

In his Ciudad Letrada Angel Rama reminds us that from the destruction of Tenochtitlan in 1521 to the inauguration of Brasilia in 1960 the Latin American City has been inscribed in a cycle of universal culture in which the city became a dream of a certain order that found in the lands of the new continent the only proper site to materialize. This course will follow the evolution of such city, its forms, spaces, organization and meaning, from pre-columbian settlements all the way into contemporary favelas and gated communities. Organized chronologically, we will examine the development (and sometimes the destruction) of cities as the main locus of Latin American culture, struggles and aspirations. With about 80% of its population living in cities, Latin America embodies much of the contemporary challenges and opportunities of an urbanized world, its inequalities as well as its intense socio-economic energy. The course is intended as an introduction to the Latin American built environment for students already familiar with the history of the region but can also work as gateway to those who have not yet been exposed to such history but are interested in urbanism and architecture.

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