Assistant Professor Gonzalo Munoz-Vera's course, ARCH 4034 - Building Cities Research Excerpts

This week in the Cowgill lobby, students in Assistant Professor Gonzalo Munoz-Vera's course, ARCH 4034 - Building Cities showcased excerpts from their research. The course examined 20 urban contexts across Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, and Oceania, exploring themes such as capital cities and collective identity, industrialization and urbanization, modernity and modernism in design culture, colonialism and postcolonialism, cities divided by war, racial and economic segregation, the right to the city, and urban sustainability and the global contract.

For this exhibition, titled "Curating the City," students selected one city from a list of ten not covered in class. They anchored their research, analysis, and arguments around a curated collection of three artefacts related to their chosen city. Artefacts were broadly interpreted to include two-dimensional representations of urban elements and phenomena, such as buildings, infrastructures, public spaces, neighborhoods, signage, street furniture, public figures, maps, photographs of ephemeral events, film stills, and works of fiction. Students thoughtfully coordinated words and images in their essays, using their selected artefacts as catalysts for inquiry into specific aspects or issues related to the history or contemporary dynamics of their chosen city. The exhibition features three artefacts and an excerpt from each student's essay.