Freshman Seminar 61L

“Get Out of My Space!” Making Sense of Our Built Environment
Patricio Del Real
Wednesday, 3-5pm
Today space is at a premium. We all want space, but what sort of space do we want? We have social space, virtual space, personal space, safe space, collective space. How much space is there? Can we run out of it? How much do you need when you tell me: “Get out of my space!” What makes it “yours?” How do we make space? Who controls it? Architecture helps us define space. We live, study, work and play in buildings and cities that have become the stages for our everyday lives, helping us do what we do and live our present. But architecture has another much more important function: It helps us imagine other possible ways of living. Architecture helps us envision the spaces we want to live in. In this seminar, we will explore the different ways in which we have created, claimed, fought over, shared and continue to imagine space. Our discussions will put a premium on the way architects, artists and social actors have produced space, and how their ideas and projects guide the way we understand our constructions of space. We will make space through hands-on projects such as mapping social networks and transforming your space through the technique of collage. These projects will challenge and help you record, transform and produce space. This seminar is designed to enrich your knowledge of space so that you may take a position on contemporary social questions, debate the nature of our built environment, and claim space for yourself.