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Barcelona: the Rise of a Design City
Advanced Humanities & Social Sciences Program
Barcelona, Spain
Dates: 1/3/17 - 4/29/17
Barcelona: the Rise of a Design City
OVERVIEW
CEA CAPA Partner Institution: Pompeu Fabra University
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Primary Subject Area: Sociology
Instruction in: English
Transcript Source: TBD
Course Details: Level 300
Recommended Semester Credits: 3
Contact Hours: 45
DESCRIPTION
The course looks at one of the most defining aspects of the city of Barcelona: its relationship to design and architecture. During the most exciting periods of the city's recent history, the Spanish transition to democracy (1980s) and the city's Olympic dream (1990s), design became one of the main cultural frameworks of Barcelona's identity, both locally and abroad. Paired with architecture, it provided the seeds from which ultimately emerged the narrative of the city as it is seen today: that of a sophisticated European metropolis miraculously emerging from the ashes of a decaying post-industrial provincial capital, now a hub of creative energy and a prime tourist attraction. Addressing local design practice and design retail, architecture and urban planning, as well as visual representation in cinema, this course explores ideas about local identity, modernity, social and cultural value in everyday material and visual artefacts and environments.