Sociology I + II
This series of lectures enables students to comprehend architecture in its social context. It approaches the architectural profession from two different angles: macro-sociological and micro-sociological.
Sociology I deals with the macro-sociological point of view, and investigates the relation between social developments and the production of the built environment. In the first part some central aspects of social change are examined – in particular the transition from Fordism to Postfordism and from Modernism to Postmodernism, and the interlinked processes of globalization and regionalization. The second part deals with historical and present-day forms of urbanization. Among other aspects treated here are the changed significance of urban-rural contrasts, the processes of suburbanization and periurbanization, the formation of global cities and metropolitan regions, the growth of new urban configurations in centres (gentrification) and on urban peripheries (edge city, exopolis). In the third part these general processes are illustrated by typical models of urbanization.
In Sociology II, the first part focuses on current perspectives of analysis in urban studies. Theoretical approaches are presented with the help of concrete case studies. First, the postcolonial perspective in urban studies will be introduced, illustrated with examples of empirical research. This part concludes with an introduction into scientific research by presenting different methods in the analysis of urbanization processes in Mexico City (lecturer: Monika Streule). In the second part, different forms of the urban in the metropolitan region of Zurich are discussed and some urban configurations and politics of urbanization are presented (lecturer: Rahel Nüssli). In the third part, different models of housing are presented and discussed (lecturer: Marie Glaser).