Teaching

Below is a list of selected courses that I am presently teaching (in 2024) or have previously taught. The list includes the descriptions as they appear in the course syllabi.

PRESENTLY TEACHING

(Listed in alphabetical order)

Architectural Anthropology

This course explores the emerging interdisciplinary field combining the theory and practice of architecture and anthropology. We compare and contrast these two disciplines’ canonical methods, ethical stances, and primary subject matters (i.e., buildings and people). In so doing, we reflect upon the challenges of ethnoarchitecture as a new discipline, with an emphasis on the challenges of carrying out architectural research and/or construction work among people from cultural backgrounds different from the architect’s own. In general, this course invites critical thinking about the theory and practice of architecture, especially regarding issues of difference, including ethno- cultural and social class difference.

From a methodological standpoint, the main goals of this course are to explore the use of ethnographic ethics for architectural research and practice, and to develop an informed position about this use based on what has been attempted so far in the architectural discipline.

Housing, Urbanization, and Development

This course studies the theory, policy, and practice of low-income housing in marginalized communities worldwide. We study central concepts in housing theory, key issues regarding low-income housing, different approaches to address these issues, and political debates regarding housing access for the people in greatest need. We use a comparative focus, iterating between cases in the United States and the so-called developing world, with an emphasis on Latin America. In so doing, we engage in a theory from without exercise; that is, we attempt to understand the housing problem in the United States from the perspective of the developing world, and vice versa. We study our subject through illustrated lectures, seminar discussions, documentary films, visual analysis exercises, and a field trip.

Learning from Metropolis: Architecture and the Graphic Narrative

The name of this course takes inspiration from Robert Venturi’s postmodernist architectural classic Learning from Las Vegas. As Venturi did with his pioneering inquiries into the connection between popular culture and architecture, in this course we consider a narrative form that has been comparatively little studied from the perspective of architectural studies—that of comic books and graphic novels.

What can we learn about architecture from graphic narrative representations of cities and buildings, both real and imagined? In exploring this question, the course studies how architecture and urban spaces have been traditionally represented throughout a century and a half of modern graphic narrative. In this course, we reflect upon what those representations reveal regarding who is included and how, among other issues.

In addition to using the graphic narrative to become introduced to architecture’s themes and areas of concern, a key goal of this course is for students themselves to develop abilities to tell stories using a graphic narrative format. To reach that goal, we analyze great stories told in this literary art form and learn a series of storytelling techniques. For students in Architectural Studies and other majors, this is a useful skill for creating, explaining, and defending arguments in a compelling way by using images, words, and the interplay between them.

Sustainable Design: Principles, Practice, Critique

The goal of this theory course is to provide students with a strong basis for a deep engagement with the practice of sustainability in architectural design. The material we study covers both canonical literature on green design and social science-based critical theory. We start by exploring the key tenets of the sustainable design discourse and how these tenets materialize in practice. Next, we examine sustainable design theory and practice in light of social issues such as inequality, marginality, and segregation. In so doing, we locate sustainability within the larger environmental movement, studying in detail some of the main approaches and standards of sustainable design, the attempts to improve this practice over time, and the specific challenges confronting these attempts. In addition to reading discussion sessions, we study our subject through field visits, presentations, illustrated lectures, and graphic design exercises.

The Language of Architecture

This introductory course focuses on the tools used to communicate and discuss ideas in architectural practice and theory. We study both practical tools, from sketching to parallel drawing, and theoretical ones, from historical to critical perspectives. Connecting both, we cover the formal analysis elements that are necessary to “read” and critique built works. Class activities include field visits, guest presentations, freehand sketching and parallel drawing, visual analysis exercises, discussion of readings, and written responses.

By the end of this course, students are enabled to both “read” and “write” architecture. They read in two senses: first, by analyzing buildings, locating them historically and stylistically, and being able to carry out a formal analysis; second, by becoming acquainted with canonical sources on key architectural topics, including history, 20th- and 21st-century movements, sustainable design, and prevailing concerns on the present and future of the practice. In turn, students are enabled to write in two senses as well, by learning to describe architectural structures both visually—through sketches and technical drawings—and in words—through descriptive analyses of buildings.

Thus, the main goals of this course are to develop a comprehensive view of how architecture works as a discipline, and to develop skills and knowledge to carry out intermediate-level work in both architectural design and theory. In general, this course offers students a broad understanding of both the areas of interest and the challenges of architecture as a discipline.

Urban Sketching

The proliferation of photo-realistic rendering software has generated a sense of digital imagery fatigue within the architectural design discipline. This fatigue is, in turn, renewing interest in hand-drawn representations of architectural and urban environments.

In this course, students learn and develop abilities to hand-sketch buildings and urban spaces, onsite and relatively quickly. In so doing, the students learn the basics of three techniques appropriate for the task: pencil, ink, and watercolor.

This course enables students to use sketching for the purposes of quickly envisioning space-related ideas and carrying out formal analyses of architectural and urban spaces.

Course activities involve open-air exercises and practice with different sketching methods as well as different techniques of representation.

COURSES PREVIOUSLY TAUGHT

(Listed in chronological descending order)

Humanitarian Design in Theory and Practice

This course explores the challenges and possibilities of humanitarian design, a growing area of interest in architectural practice. The course includes a field component—a trip to Ecuador during Spring Break—which is deeply integrated into the course contents. In the first part of the semester, students become familiar with relevant theoretical and practice-based approaches to disaster reconstruction. They gain an understanding of the complexities of this area of work, as well as a good grasp of the tasks and issues to be dealt with in the field. Upon returning from Ecuador, the rest of the semester is devoted to debriefing, producing and analyzing documentation, and drawing general lessons for the theory and practice of humanitarian design.

The main case study is that of post-disaster reconstruction following Ecuador’s 2016 Pedernales Earthquake, which killed more than 600 people and injured more than 16,000. We study the outcomes of diverse reconstruction efforts and approaches four years after the earthquake hit and these efforts were implemented. To compare and contrast approaches, our fieldwork focuses on two settings, one urban and one rural, both located in the coastal Manabí province.

Unlike other field courses I teach, this course does not focus on making architecture— that is, it does not involve humanitarian design or construction work in the field. The “humanitarian design in practice” in the course title is about studying the practice of humanitarian design carried out in the field by other practitioners, especially high-profile architects. This course examines such practice under a critical lens and considers possibilities to address its current limitations.

(Taught in Spring 2020 at Amherst College. The field portion of this course had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown).

Ecuador: Earth Architecture and Cultural Sustainability

This course explores the notion of cultural sustainability, a form of sustainable development that is also culturally appropriate, as it caters to the needs and perspectives of different ethno-cultural groups. The course explores how the notion of cultural sustainability has been applied to sustainable design in Ecuadorian architectural practice and how rural communities in the Andes have related to this notion.

We engage in a multi-dimensional exploration of culturally appropriate design around the topic of earth construction. Sustainable design literature generally acknowledges earth as one of the materials with the greatest potential for global sustainability. Earth is (at least in theory) a low-cost material that is readily available and has excellent climate- conditioning performance.

In Ecuador, there is a centuries-old tradition of earth construction using adobe bricks, rammed earth, and pressed earth technologies. We study this building material in some of the very indigenous settlements where it has been mastered. We also work with architects who, learning from the indigenous traditions, have proposed technological and design improvements to this material and have applied these to low-income housing and other social infrastructure projects.

This course includes a hands-on component. Students learn by doing, becoming conversant about the basic technological and design principles of earth construction while also reflecting upon the possibilities and challenges of adopting earth construction for sustainable development.

The course is interdisciplinary in nature, accommodating students’ diverse interests in ecology, geography, anthropology, social development, planning, building, and other areas.

(This course was taught in Ecuador with Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith College students in Summer 2016, in partnership with Funhabit, an Ecuadorian building and social development nonprofit that works extensively with earth construction in its social projects with indigenous populations in the Ecuadorian Andes).

Architecture of Bamboo – Colombia

Long regarded as the timber of the future and a “vegetal steel” due to its structural qualities, guadua angustifolia—a species of bamboo found in South America—has extraordinary potential for sustainable building. This material also has many other advantages and it is widely used beyond construction; its beauty and flexibility allow for seemingly endless design possibilities.

This design-build studio abroad introduces students to bamboo design knowledge through site visits, training with experts, studio work, and the building of a small bamboo structure. The studio takes place in Colombia, where an internationally recognized bamboo architectural practice has been developed based on a vernacular tradition that dates back to pre-Columbian times.

In this course, we become familiar with both high-design and traditional architecture in bamboo, while carefully considering the socio-environmental feasibility of building with this material. In particular, we explore the potential of working with bamboo as a poverty alleviation measure, looking at post-earthquake reconstruction and social housing projects built with this material in Colombia.

After becoming familiar with the general environmental, social, and cultural context of bamboo construction in the country, we learn the basic principles of bamboo building by working onsite with the material as a design-build studio exercise.

(Taught in Colombia with Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith College students in Summer 2014 and 2015. The 2014 version was taught in partnership with the Art, Architecture and Design Department at the Universidad Javeriana in Cali, Colombia. The 2015 version was taught in partnership with School for Life, a Cali-based nonprofit that uses bamboo as the catalyzing element for a social development and educational project in Montebello, an informal settlement at the periphery of the city).

Architecture of Traditional Societies

This class takes an ethno-historical approach to the architecture of societies that are under-represented in canonical architectural theory. We study the architecture of these societies through two supplementary lenses. First, we consider the Euro-American perspective, studying how has traditional architecture been represented in classical architectural literature. The second lens is ethnographic, as we study traditional building from a locally-informed perspective. In addition to seminar discussions, this class includes a formal analysis component. No previous architectural knowledge or special drafting or design skills are required, as they are developed in the class.

(Taught at Amherst College in Fall 2014 and 2015).

Nature, Culture, and Architecture

The year 2014 marks 50 years since the publication of Bernard Rudofsky’s Architecture Without Architects, a powerful statement about the role of culture and nature in architectural design. This intermediate-level seminar studies the notions of nature and culture, their historical roles in architectural discourse, and their relevance in contemporary discourse about green design. We explore what has changed in architectural design theory and practice in relation to these two ideas since the publication of Rudofsky’s manifesto. More generally, we explore the notion that traditional building is by default “green,” a key assumption in the discourse of green design and culture.

Specific topics for discussion include: What is the relationship between culture and nature in the built environment? How does canonical design literature understand the notions of culture, nature, and sustainability? How important is culture in terms of the connections between environment and building that are made in this literature?

No previous background in architectural design or theory is required for this course.

(Taught at Hampshire College in Fall 2013).

Reinventing the Toilet

Only one percent of the earth’s water is available for human consumption, and a single flush toilet can contaminate thousands of gallons in just one year of operation.

Is there an alternative? Students in this design and making studio explore existing alternatives to flush toilet technologies and develop their own in plans and a 3D model, with a prototype in mind as the ultimate goal. This is a “real-life” case scenario studio. At the end of the semester, students are enabled to build an operational alternative toilet.

We reach the course goals through a combination of theoretical work—including research and a critical reading of the genealogy of sanitation technologies, toilet patents, health and other data, and social science-based theory, and practical work— involving field-based analysis of sanitation technologies, studio design work, prototyping, and testing.

(Taught at Hampshire College in Spring 2013).

Tierra Verde: Sustainability Discourse in Latin American Architecture and Planning

This course studies the discourse of sustainability—both advocacy and criticism—in Latin American architectural and planning theory and practice. We study both locally produced theory—written in Latin America and with a Latin American audience in mind—and theory produced in the North American context with an intended global audience. Our focus is multi-disciplinary: In addition to planning and architectural theory, we read cultural studies, anthropology, and other social science literature. We also “read” (watch/ listen to) films and music as primary sources of information.

(Taught at Smith College in Spring 2013).

The Poetics and Politics of Sustainable Architecture

This course interrogates the prevalent discourse of sustainability in architectural design literature, under the premise that “sustainability” is a politically framed and context- dependent notion.

The main issue we explore is the often overlooked divide between the green design discourse and issues of poverty, migration, and modernization. On one side of this disconnect, there is a green design imaginary—based on the idea that everybody, everywhere, agrees with the global environmental agenda of natural preservation, greenhouse gas emission reductions, and alternative technologies. On the other side, there are four billion people in the world living below the poverty line, and, as they face socio-economic pressures, their interests are often at odds with the global ideals of sustainable design and development. If the global green imaginary celebrates flourishing forests, in the local experience forests may be viewed as wood for cooking.

We critically study how the sustainable design discourse relates to this disconnection by analyzing the predominant discourse on green design in light of current events and the reading of social sciences and architectural theory pieces.

(Taught at Amherst College in Fall 2012 and 2013).

‘Culturally Appropriate’ Design

This studio course explores the cultural dimensions of the notion of sustainability, under the premise that the so-called “culturally appropriate” approach is progressively becoming a central component of sustainable design. Through this course, students become familiar with the practice of sustainable design in culturally diverse contexts by identifying the critical principles, themes, and challenges of this practice.

Taking on the task of designing a cultural center for a hypothetical expatriate association, and being presented with several scenarios common to the practice of culturally appropriate design, students will be confronted with the main challenges, principles, and ethics of this practice.

The course starts as a fast-paced studio that exposes students to the culture of a design office and the challenges of a culturally appropriate design practice. The studio is set within a framework of exploration. By design, students are not given detailed instructions initially and begin only with a general outline provided by a hypothetical colleague in a role-play situation.

The studio delves more deeply into the complexities of cultural appropriateness in design progressively throughout the semester. After a first review in the second week, and as designs improve and become more detailed, we introduce and discuss issues that are key to this practice. Design work in the studio is supplemented with discussions regarding the concept of culture in architecture and issues related to cultural identity within the framework of sustainable development.

As a material outcome of their formal exploration and critical inquiry, students propose the design of a cultural center in plans, renderings, and a physical model.

(Taught at Hampshire College in Fall 2012).

Housing: An International Survey

This course is organized around three main themes: housing as a public good, housing as a commodity, and housing as a right. These themes broadly outline the main issues regarding housing as an international development project. In particular, they relate to the fundamental premises and theoretical assumptions of that project, the current situation of the project, and the project’s criticism. In other words, they characterize— and, at the same time, interrogate—the theoretical universe of housing as an area of study and practice. We deal with both the fundamentals and the questioning through lectures, films, weekly readings, and weekly discussion sections.

(Taught at the University of California, Berkeley, in Spring 2010 [co-taught with Pietro Calogero] and Spring 2011).