Case Studies in City Form OpenCourseWare: Graduate Level Free Online Course by MIT on the Study of Urban Form and Design

Published Jan 16, 2009

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MIT's OpenCourseWare 'Case Studies in City Form' introduces students to the topics of urban design and form with special emphasis on the social, historical and physical configuration of cities. This graduate course is offered as part of a Master of Science in Architecture (SMArchS), concentrating in Architecture and Urbanism, degree. While OpenCourseWare is open to the public, some coursework in architectural studies may be helpful to understand the information presented.

Case Studies in City Form: Course Specifics

Degree Level Free Audio VideoDownloads
Graduate Yes No No Yes

Lectures/NotesStudy MaterialsTests/Quizzes
No Yes No

Case Studies in City Form: Course Description

The main objective of 'Case Studies in City Form' OpenCourseWare is to acquaint students with city design and form, specifically a city's social and physical configuration. Selected cities are compared through the analysis of information and drawings made of each city (urban design). In addition to design methods, the course also discusses the theories behind the design (urban theory) and the cultural, political and sociological history of each city (history of urban design). Other subjects touched upon are urban representation and the rise of map-making. MIT Prof. Michael Dennis and Mr. Anubhav Gupta taught the original on-campus course, conducted in a lecture-style format with weekly seminars. This graduate-level course is geared towards students majoring in Urbanism and or Architecture.

'Case Studies in City Form' OpenCourseWare includes a selected list of readings in urban design, a summary of the first lecture and two students projects that can be downloaded (some images may be missing). For more information on this free course, visit the urban form and design course page.

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