ARTH 047. Counterculture Architecture and Urbanism

During the 1960s and '70s in the United States, young builders and planners gave form to the ideological shifts generated by the Countercultural Movement. Their radical designs were formal condemnations of the technocratic, homogenous strategies favored by the previous generation. This course examines the multifaceted nature of countercultural architecture, planning, and technology through primary sources and critical texts that provide a broader cultural, social, and political context for the work. Each seminar focuses upon either an abstract component of "outlaw" design, such as whole systems theory, gender and race politics, cybernetics, etc., or particular building forms that came to symbolize the movement, including inflatables, geodesic domes, and vernacular constructions. The course encourages students to draw connections between built work and countercultural theory and to challenge preconceived notions of architecture during the period.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Art and Art History: Art History
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/art-and-art-history

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