Elective Course
Credits: 3-0-3 (3 semester hours)
Type of Course: Lecture
Instructors: Marc Bedarida
Prerequisites: None
Course Overview
The history of Paris as a means to understand the major spatial structures of the European city. The aim is to develop an appreciation for the complexity of the urban fabric, the different layers of history, and their effects on the morphology of the city. The city is considered as a tangible construction which affects social structures ways of life.
Learning Objectives
- To help the student gain an understanding of the temporal depth that underlines the formation of the city of Paris.
- To gain an understanding of layering that explains the multiple facts of Paris today, more specifically through map reading and diachronic analysis.
- To stimulate an awareness of the influence of public authorities on the planning of the city.
Course Requirements
Classes take place Thursday morning from 9:00 am to 12:00 am and include visits. Each student will:
- Make a booklet giving an account of each visit. (A 5 format: 21x14,85 cm), including at least one image (a drawing or a sketch is much preferable to a photograph) and a running commentary of 300 words.
- Make a cartographic comparative analysis based on a diachronic research of three different periods of Paris, showing how various layers of different epochs have interacted and how the urban form, space and scale have developed. Three true maps, three analytical diagrams, three 400 words comment and an actual aerial view are required.
Bibliography includes:
S. Anderson, On Street, MIT Press, 1978
E.N.Bacon, Design of cities, Ed. Thames and Hudson
L.Bergeron ed., Paris, génèse d'un paysage, Ed. Picard
P.Couperie, Paris au fil du temps, Ed. J.Cuénot, 1968, Paris through the ages
N.Everson, Paris, a century of change: 1878-1978, Ed. Yale University Press
Documentation centers:Archives de Paris
18, boulevard Sérurier, 19
Pavillon de l'Arsenal
21, boulevard Morland, 4
Maps :
Most of these maps can be consultated at the Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris (BHVP), some maps are also avalaible at the Paris la Villette documentation center
Le petit atlas pittoresque des 48 quartiers de la ville de Paris, Perrot 1834
L'atlas général de la ville, des faubourgs et des monuments de Paris, 1836, scale 1/2000
Plan détaillé de Paris dressé géométriquement, Vasserot et Bellanger, scale 1/1000
Plan général de Paris et des environs, Deschamps, 1868, scale 1/5000
Atlas administratif des vingt arrondissements, 1868