Complexity Must Be Beautiful! Berlin, Los Angeles and the Re-Urbanization of the Modernist City

During the 1960's, Berlin's city planners, inspired by Los Angeles' Modernist "city of tomorrow" sought to rearrange the urban form so automobiles would be unchallenged as they sped through the city on spacious roads. This led to the construction of car-centric locales such as the Bundesplatz and the Bundesallee, which contrast and conflict with the 19th Century urban fabric of much of the rest of Berlin. Professor Christ and a group of students are visiting Los Angeles with a group of students from Berlin to again seek inspiration from this city - this time to undo the car-centric ethos and return control of the city to its human inhabitants. This seminar will focus on the relationship between function and form in Modernist locations and the quest to develop place-making strategies that balance form and function to regain the quality and values of the traditional European city.