052-0905-24L "Why look at animals?" Cohabitation of humans and animals in historic perspective
| Semester | Autumn Semester 2024 |
| Lecturers | R. Hanisch |
| Periodicity | non-recurring course |
| Language of instruction | German |
Courses
| Number | Title | Hours | Lecturers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 052-0905-24 S | "Why look at animals?" Kohabitation von Mensch und Tier in historischer Perspektive Keine Lehrveranstaltung am 21.10 (Seminarwoche) und in den letzten zwei Wochen vor Semesterende. | 2 hrs |
| R. Hanisch |
Catalogue data
| Abstract | Selected examples of historic architecture, urban planning and architectural theory will be analyzed with help of ground breaking texts from the new interdisciplinary field of "Animal Studies". The focal point is the question, which roles and which spaces were and are given or denied to animals in our built environment. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The seminar is a close cooperation with the Chair of Prof. Dr. Tom Avermaete. The seminar focusses on the cohabitation of humans and animals in the built environment. Studies show that today the variety of species in an urban environment is higher than in the intensively farmed countryside. This entails a chance for biodiversity but also the danger of zoonoses. In this seminar, students will read texts from different academic fields contributing to the new research area of the so called „Animal studies“ – biology, sociology, history, philosophy, ecology, art history, literary studies – and apply this knowledge on architecture. Thereby buildings and cities are not seen as a mere stage for interactions between humans and animals but as active contributors facilitating or hindering these encounters. Throughout the course, students will develop a high degree of independent thinking, the ability to read texts critically and apply the results on historic and contemporary examples, be it the built environment, a text or an art project. Via individual presentations students learn to process complex content verbally and visually and answer questions. This schools several important skills like abstraction of content, conveyance of content, visualization, reaction to unforeseen questions et. al. With the joint close reading students will further exercise the analytical skills whereas the final discussion will train the discursive skills and show how to synthezise differing positions. The program comprises following elements: * short students presentations 15-20 minutes * several mini lectures by the lecturer * impulse lectures by guest * joint close reading of key texts * joint analysis of projects * excursion Hönggerberg * final discussion * submission of power point presentation (The lecturer will comment individually on the submission of the power point presentation.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | „Why look at animals?“ is the title of an article from 1980 by British writer and art critic John Berger. In this fundamental text Berger looks into the spiritual and cultural relation of humans towards animals. In this course, this text and some more recent texts form the starting point to examine the cohabitation of „nonhuman animals“ and „human animals“ in our built environment. Selected examples of (historic) buildings and cities will be examined as biotopes for a great number of species, only one of them being human. The seminar is organized in three modules: I Building for animals The first module will focus on buildings (or environments) designed to accommodate animals (and often to accommodate the proximity of „non human animals“ and „human animals“). Examples include structures which have been built with often high architectonic ambitions for certain species of animals, like stables, riding houses, pigeon towers, zoos and different typologies of agricultural buildings from different regions and epochs. (Examples: Riding house of William Cavendish in Bolsover Castle 1660ies, Hameau de la Reine, toy farm for Marie Antoinette, Versailles, 1783-1788; Pigeon towers in Iran; Hugo Häring, Gut Garkau, 1922; next phase for the expansion of Zoo Zürich, Tessiner Houses, etc.) II Animal city The second module focusses on the city as a shared space for humans and animals. Until the beginning of the 20th century, masses of animals were kept within the confines of big cities. It came with its own challenges, so called „cultural followers“ and „pests“, which made a strong impact on building, zoning, and developing the city. Zoonoses were and still are a serious thread today, influencing urban planning. (Examples: Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Imperial riding school and stables in Vienna; Animals in „Georgian“ London; Union Stock Yards, Chicago, ab 1865; Pest and rats, Urban Foxes, Racoons in Berlin et. al.) III Architectural and animal theories The final module focusses on recent discourses of human-animal-relations in philosophy, biology and literary studies, leading to the new field of more or less radical „animal studies“ or „human-non human animal studies” emerging within the last two decades. In this part of the course the renewed focus on questions of cohabitation in a global perspective is studied through contemporary texts and art/architectural projects with a strong political message. These objects and projects are taken as a starting point for a discussion on the future role of architecture and urban planning in fostering biodiversity. (Examples: Donna Haraway, When species meet, 2007; study: Animal Aided Design, 2015; Installation: Mapping the post human city, 2021) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | A script with selected key texts will be handed out at the beginning of the semester. An extended bibliography for the students presentations will be provided. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Selected literature: (A full bibliography will be handed out at the beginning of the semester.) John Berger, “Why look at animals?”, in: About Looking, New York: Pantheon Books, 1980, S. 1-25. Dorothee Brantz und Christof Mauch, Tierische Geschichte. Die Beziehung von Mensch und Tier in der Kultur der Moderne, Paderborn: Schöningh, 2010. Sue Donaldson, Will Kymlicka, Zoopolis. Eine politische Theorie der Tierrechte, Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2014. Ulrich Raulff, Das letzte Jahrhundert der Pferde. Geschichte einer Trennung, München: Beck, 2015. Thomas Ameroth-Williams, City of Beasts. How animals shaped Georgian London, Manchester University Press, 2019 Kohabitation, Koexistenz, Kovivialität, hg. von Jessica Ullrich, Tierstudien, 22, 2022. Cohabitation Arch+, Zeitschrift für Architektur und Urbanismus, Nr. 247, 2022. Das Urbana Habitat: Tier und Mensch in Lebensgemeinschaft, Die Architekt, Nr. 2023. Recommended reading: Kathrine Rundell, The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure, London Faber & Faber, 2022. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | non | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Competencies |
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Performance assessment
| Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again) | |
Performance assessment as a semester course | |
| ECTS credits | 2 credits |
| Examiners | R. Hanisch |
| Type | graded semester performance |
| Language of examination | German |
| Repetition | Repetition only possible after re-enrolling for the course unit. |
Learning materials
| No public learning materials available. | |
| Only public learning materials are listed. |
Groups
| No information on groups available. |
Restrictions
| There are no additional restrictions for the registration. |
Offered in
| Programme | Section | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture Bachelor | History and Theory of Architecture | W | |