Description: Mullholland Drive to Montclair: The Origins and Legacies of a Southern California Metropolis
Cliches and stereotypes abound when discussing Los Angeles: a dystopian city with neither a center nor a soul, an accidental metropolis connecting disparate suburbs in the desert. In reality, Los Angeles was a meticulously planned urban experiment, one rooted in white supremacy and unfettered capitalism. Ironically, the failed US city of popular imagination now stands as a laboratory on how to retrofit a city and render it functional — an experiment beset with huge challenges — climate change, gentrification, homelessness etc. We will read seminal critiques of the city: Reynard Banham’s Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies., Mike Davis’ City of Quartz and Ecology of Fear, and more contemporary critics including Pitzer’s own Susan Philips’ The City Beneath: A Century of Los Angeles Graffiti, LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano and former architecture critic, Christopher Hawthorne. Students will conduct group projects on a district of their choice. Public health conditions permitting, the course will include a subway/walking tour of select districts.
Prerequisite(s): See the current course schedule for registration restrictions.
For up-to-date information on current course offerings and details, please refer to the Pitzer class schedule on MyCampus2 Portal .
