Athenian Urbanisms

Teaching a class was the highlight of my time at Stanford. “URBANST 15SI: Athenian Urbanisms, Examining A Storied City Through Time” was developed over the course of a year, and has taken on countless forms and various names. Initially thought of as a hypothetical architectural tour of Athens, the course began to develop a structure as I started to think of all the lenses through which to view and better understand the city. Soon enough, I had drafted a rough outline for eight ‘profiles’ of Athens, each of which was in conversation with the rest. Every week, a different profile was presented, and a new way to mine the city for information was examined. As the quarter progressed and our shared knowledge of Athens grew, classes became more conversational, and I began to rely more on the insight of students to drive each class forward.

Using specific references as springboards (a quote, a park, a photograph, a collage, etc.), we explored the urban dynamics of Athens, consciously seeking to mediate between the past, present and future iterations of the city. While some classes were rooted in history (like ‘The Template City: Design, Democracy & the Public Realm’), others focused on contemporary challenges (like ‘The Decaying City: Vertical Segregation & Abandonment’), while others were positioned to look ahead (like ‘The Cautious City: Regionalism, Mega-projects & Identity’). Ultimately, through a mixture of lectures, conversations, ideas and questions, we assembled a comprehensive toolkit to help us all interpret Athens.

Many thanks to Tom Beischer for being my faculty mentor, and for coming to every class prepared to nudge the conversation in just the right way. His guidance and advice made this class possible. Thanks to Pavlos Yeroulanos, Thomas Doxiadis and Haris Biskos for agreeing to participate in selected lectures.

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