Introductory description

This module explores urban change in the twentieth century through a close analysis of the built form of towns and cities of the West Midlands. It gives students the skills to interpret and trace historical processes in the everyday built environment. Much of the teaching will be done ‘on the ground’ in places easily accessible from the University – asking how their architecture and urban form were responses to intellectual ideas about urban development, as well as being shaped by more abstract forces including the welfare state, social polarisation, deindustrialisation, narratives of crisis, and changing patterns of mobility and energy usage. Teaching in the cities will be student led, augmented with provided material from planning literature: maps, surveys, reports, movement studies, perspective drawings - helping students to understand the range of materials used by planning and architectural professionals in understanding cities, and using built form to try to mould society.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

1. Introduction
2. The Victorian Legacy
3. Transport
4. Planning
5. Leisure
6. City Centres & Shopping
7. Conservation
8. Suburbs
9. The Inner City
10. Industrialisation and Deindustrialisation

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the historical processes which have shaped urban form
• Demonstrate an understanding of the vocabulary needed to contextualise and analyse architecture
• Demonstrate a familiarity with a variety of practices and critical issues related to the urban history of the English Midlands
• Present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
• Ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
• Familiarity with essential ICT skills
• Ability to collaborate effectively with others
• Show understanding of diverse viewpoints
• Ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
• Ability to formulate a sustained argument
• Think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
• Sophisticated visual analysis
• Bibliographical skills at an appropriate level
• Critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Subject specific skills

• Demonstrate an understanding of the historical processes which have shaped urban form
• Demonstrate an understanding of the vocabulary needed to contextualise and analyse architecture:
• Demonstrate a familiarity with a variety of practices and critical issues related to the urban history of the English Midlands
• sophisticated visual analysis
• critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context

Transferable skills

• present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
• ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
• familiarity with essential ICT skills
• ability to collaborate effectively with others
• Show understanding of diverse viewpoints
• ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
• ability to formulate a sustained argument
• think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
• bibliographical skills at an appropriate level