ARTH 256 Memory and Place in Post-WW II Architecture

This course examines memory and forgetting in the context of the post-World War II period. It will consider how massive physical destruction necessitated the reconstruction of urban landscapes in Germany, France, England, Japan, and the United States. We will study urban redevelopment, in addition to architectural structures such as museums, memorials, and monuments, in order to discern how governments, societies, and individuals attempt to come to terms with the historical past. We will ask the following questions: What role do museums, memorials, and monuments play in the architectural landscape of a city? What design restrictions are posed by these types of institutions? How are abstract and representational forms employed in the memorialization process? Through an examination of these questions, students will gain an understanding of diverse built environments within an era marked by fundamental shifts in (post)modernism, technology, and aesthetics. To this end, emphasis will be placed on the ways in which memory and place are conceived within particular cultural and intellectual circumstances.