TOS Coursework

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

SCHOOL OF PLANNING & ARCHITECTURE

PROPOSED COURSE WORK: THEORY OF SETTLEMENTS

COURSE OBJECTIVES                                                                                                                                               

·         To understand the factors that effect occurrence, structure and components of the city

·         To understand the role and nature of various physical components of the city

·         To develop an understanding of the nature of contemporary debates, critical thoughts on urban issues

COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

Factors affecting the occurrence and structure of cities

Economic, political, topographical, climate, historical, religion etc.

 Theories of City Form

 The cosmic and organic model, The Descriptive and the Functional model

The Agricultural Settlement

Invention of Agriculture and The birth of urban settlements

Genesis of key physical elements – defining urban settlement

The Temple, Citadel, Wall, Irrigation, Market, Institutions

Greek and Roman cities

Medieval Cities

Renaissance & Utopia

The Industrial Revolution

The Modern City and the Reactionary Movements

The City Structure

City Form, Grid, organic, nodes, connectors, edges, hierarchy, paths, city center

Traditional Indian Planning

Essence of Vastu Shilpa Shastra

Medieval Indian Cities

The British Raj & Colonial Cities                                   

SEMESTER 1

Introduction to ‘urban’ & the phenomenon of ‘urbanisation’

Introduction to the Idea of a City: Temporal & Abstract

Sophisticated agriculture & Rise of Urbanization in Various Civilizations

Special reference to Catalhoyuk, Ur, Uruk, Lothal, Nippur, Jericho, Xian

BIBLIOGRAPHY & SUGGESTED READING

Adams - The Natural History of Urbanism

Jane Jacobs - The Economy of Cities

Jane Jacobs - The Nature of Economics

Rykwert- The Idea of a Town

Wright - The Cosmology of the Chinese City

Collins - Linear Planning Throughout the World

Doxiadis - Architectural Space in Ancient Greece

Richard Sennett - The Conscience of the Eye

Chritopher Alexander - A New Theory of Urban Design

Geddes - Cities in Evolution

Ebenezer Howard - Garden Cities of Tomorrow

E Saarinen - The City

Stein - Toward New Towns for America

Gordon - Capitalism and the Roots of Urban Crisis

Meier - A Communications Theory of Urban Growth

Richardson -The New Urban Economics: And Alternatives

John Ruskin - The Stones of Venice

Engels. The Condition of the Working Class in England

Jared Diamond – Civilization: The Growth & the decay of Civilizations

Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Kevin Lynch - A Theory of Good City Form

Mike Davis – Dead Cities

John Ruskin - Complete Works

Williams- The Country and the City

Camillo Sitte - City Planning According to Artistic Principles

Maniera-Elia - Toward an Imperial City

Bridget and Raymond Allchin - The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan

A.L. Basham - The Wonder That Was India

Jain, K C - Ancient Cities and Towns of Rajasthan : A Study of Culture and Civilization

Gole, Susan, (1989) Indian Maps and Plans. From the Earliest Times to the Advent of Eurpoean Surveys

Sachdev and Tillotson - Building Jaipur, The Making of an Indian City

Dutt, B. B. Town Planning in Ancient India

Walter A. Fairservis. The Roots of Indian Tradition

Jonathana Mark Kenoyer. Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization

Juan Mascaro - The Upanishads

Stuart Piggott - Prehistoric India

Romila Thapar. A History of India

Romila Thapar. Recent Perspectives of Early Indian History

Joel Kotkin - The City

Italo Calvino - Invisible Cities

Van de Mieroop, Marc -The Ancient Mesopotamian City

Corbusier - The Radiant City

Tafuri - The Crisis of Utopia: Le Corbusier at Algiers

Tony Garnier: The Cite Industrielle.

Kevin Lynch - A Theory of Good City Form 

Unger - The Politics of Urbanity

Christopher Alexander - Timeless Way of Building

Peter Hall -Cities Of Tomorrow

Rossi - Architecture of the City

Venturi -Learning from Las Vegas

Colin Rowe - Collage City

SUGGESTED READING & REFERENCE LIST

Mumford, Lewis - Culture of Cities

Mumford, Lewis - City in History: Its origin, its transformation, its prospects

Lynch, Kevin - Good City Form,

Lynch, Kevin - What time is this place

Lynch, Kevin - Image of a City

Kostof, Spiro - The City Assembled

Kostof, Spiro - The City Shaped

Kostof, Spiro - History of Architecture- Settings and Rituals

Gallion Arthur B - The Urban Pattern

Sitte Camillo – City Planning: According to artistic principles

Jacobs, Jane – Death and Life of great American Cities

Alexander Christopher – A Pattern Language

Jacobs, Allen – Great Streets

Cullen, Gordan – Townscapes

Cullen, Gordan – On Streets

Aldo Rossi, L’architettura della città (Padua:Marsilio, 1966); English translation, The Architecture of the City (Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1982). 

Tillotson, G. H. R., 1989, The Tradition of Indian Architecture: Continuity, Controversy and Change since 1850. Oxford University Press, Delhi.

Ferguson, James, 1967 [1876], The History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. 2

vols., Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi.

Alfieri, Bianca Maria, 2000, Islamic Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent. Mapin,

Ahmedabad.

Morris, Jan, 1983, Stones of Empire: The Buildings of the Raj. Oxford University

Press, Oxford.

Metcalf, Thomas, R., 1984, “Architecture and the Representation of Empire: India,

18601910.”Representations. No. 6, Spring, pp. 3765

Kalia, Ravi, 2000 [1987], Chandigarh: The Making of an Indian City. Oxford

University Press, Oxford, and Manohar Publishers, New Delhi.

King, Anthony, 1994, “India’s Past in India’s Present: Cultural Policy and Cultural

Practice in Architecture and Urban Design, 19601990.”

Volwahsen, Andreas, 2004, Imperial Delhi: The British Capital of the Indian Empire.

Prestel, Munich & Timeless Books, New Delhi.

Alexander.C, Ishikawa, S., Silverstein,M - A Pattern Language, Oxford University Press,NY