ARCH-871G Worldbuilding: Architecture, Philosophy, and Fiction

3 Credits

Architecture, philosophy, and fiction converge at the intersection of worldbuilding. Even the smallestarchitectural construct potentiates a world unto itself, housing myriad actors and new ways of living. Every philosophical lens builds the world anew, giving us a rare glimpse of the extraordinary underlying the ordinary. Every speculative fiction re-imagines the world through alternative scenarios and creative visions. This course is an exercise in analyzing historical precedents, critical tensions, and theoretical potentials of worldbuilding in architecture , literature, and cinema . Throughout the semester, each student will develop their own worldbuilding project in parallel layer by layer, addressing a wide range of weekly topics including cosmology & astrophysics; space & time; geography & climate; biotic & abiotic life; ethics, theology, politics; culture, economy, technology; and most specifically, aesthetics, art, and architecture.