A CITY IN SEARCH OF ITSELF

GR - Graduate

This course will explore topophilia, urban sprawl, regional architectural forms, artifice, pastiche and camp as situated in the city of Los Angeles. Through a series of onsite visits supplemented by readings and films we will gain a better understanding of how the city of Los Angeles was organized, its aesthetics, and what political forces and cultural forms influence its unique existence as "seventeen suburbs in search of a city." We will study Disneyland, the film industry, real estate redlining, the development of the "teenager" and its relationship to car culture, Los Angeles' immigrant culture, the natural landscape and its opposite, extreme artifice.

Students will be introduced to the themes of simulation, post-modern architectural theory, landscape theory, politics and law related to city organization, and economics related to identity formation. We will look to challenge assumptions about taste and deconstruct divisions between artifice and the real. Students will present research midterm as well as a final art project.

RGART - Art School Only