Overcoming Carbon Form

DES 3529 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course studies how the adoption of fossil fuels has changed the spatial organization of human society, from new building typologies invented to manage an emerging working class to new urban archetypes designed to meet the demands of mechanized mobility and global consumption. From the steam engine onward, these architectural and urban configurations—what could be called carbon form—have enmeshed the cultural, economic, and political aspects of social life within an energy-intensive network of space and form. These are the spatial roots of the climate crisis and they remain largely understudied, unchallenged, and until recently, unnamed. And yet, carbon form not only holds the current energy paradigm in place but actively strengthens it. As such, studying its evolution and identifying its characteristics is essential work, as the crisis itself demands that architects look beyond the quantification of material and energy flows in order to address how the widespread adoption of fossil fuels has shaped architectural thought. Any proposal for the future must confront—and ultimately overcome—this cultural and architectural legacy.

To aid in this effort, this course offers a critical account of carbon form—both its physical manifestations in built form and its ideological contours within specific lineages of architectural thought. By drawing a deep connection between energy and form, the course offers new insight into the climate crisis and argues that decarbonization is much more than a technical problem, as it is also a theoretical problem for architectural and urban thought.

The course is organized in three parts.

Histories
To situate and contextualize carbon form as a legible spatial order, the semester begins by offering historical context, from deep histories of energy transition to the colonial roots of industrial society.

Forms
Once the conditions for the birth of carbon modernity are understood, our attention turns toward the specific aspects of form most deeply affected by the adoption of fossil fuels. Lectures and readings focus on changes to urban form, building type, construction systems, and aesthetic movements. 

Counterforms
Having identified examples of carbon form and analyzed its formal and spatial characteristics, the final weeks of the semester combine lectures, readings, and collaborative research to ask where the seeds of an alternative might be found.

Coursework includes readings, in-class discussions, collaborative research, and drawing assignments. Students will be asked to work in teams, and portions of class-time will be used to workshop the curation of the research. Students without a drawing background can work in teams to complete the final assignment, which requires drawing and visualization.  Evaluation will be based on class engagement, reading responses, drawing exercises, and the final assignment.