Urbanism III - Theory

Course guarantor:

Irena Fialová

Lecturer:

Irena Fialová

Tutor:

Irena Fialová

Supervisor:

Department of Urban Design

Synopsis:

The course introduces the student to the most important urban theories and ways of thinking about the city from the 19th century to the present. In lectures and seminars, the student is led to think critically in order to be able to analyze, evaluate, compare and recognize the practical effects of these theories on the development of European cities. The seminars combine the theoretical lectures with analysis and interpretation of theoretical texts, with an emphasis on linking individual and team work.

The course is taught in the form of lectures and seminars. Part of the course and student assessment is self-study of literature, active preparation for seminars, involvement in discussed topics and preparation of a seminar paper.

Requirements:

Syllabus of lectures:

1. Introduction, basic terms, researching cities, urban design traditions

2. The City Beautiful, the cosmic urban model, case study

3. The Industrial city, the mechanical urban model, case study

4. The Garden city, the organic urban model, case study

5. The Automobile city, development of the urban transportation network

6. The Functional city, critique of modernism, case study

7. The birth of modern suburbia, business centers as cities

8. Utopia of the 60s and 70s, city of the future, drop city, case study

9. Postmodern urbanism, case study

10. The Generic city, vertical, horizontal

11. The Urban web theory, collective form, urban morphology

12. Placemaking theory, New Urbanism, case study

13. Sustainable urbanism, Tactical urbanism, Landscape urbanism, case studies

Syllabus of tutorials:

Study Objective:

Study materials:

1. Hall, Peter. Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century (Third Edition), Malden, MA and Oxford, Blackwell (2002) 2. Kstoff, Spiro. The City Shaped. Urban Patterns and Meaning trough history (1991) 3. Lynch, Kevin. The Image of the City, Cambridge, Mass. (1960) 4. Venturi, Robert - Scott Brown, Denise - Izenour, Steven. Learning from Las Vegas (1972) 5. Krier, Rob. Urban Space (1977) 6. Sudjic, Deyan. The 100 Mile City. London, Andre Deutsch (1992)

Note:

The minimum number of students to open the course is 5. EXCEPTION for self-paying students: if there are less than 5 students, the course will be taught in consultations.

Time-table for winter semester 2025/2026:

	06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon
Tue
Wed	roomT9:112 Fialová I. 12:30–14:00 (lecture parallel1) Dejvice roomT9:112 Fialová I. 14:15–15:45 (lecture parallel1 parallel nr.101) Dejvice
Thu
Fri

Time-table for summer semester 2025/2026:

Time-table is not available yet

The course is a part of the following study plans: