Course Outline
Winter 2003

Instructor: Martin Fischer, Faculty Apartment, 8322-1096, fischer@stanford.edu, Office Hours: by appointment

Original Class Meeting Times: T 3:15 to 5:00, F 12:15 to 2:00, Stanford University Berlin Study Center (check course schedule for class days, times, and location)

Course Description: Like no other city, the main historic events of the 20th century have shaped Berlin and its built environment. This course will explore how these historic events shaped the physical infrastructure of the city and are affecting the current and planned development of the city’s infrastructure. Small groups of students in the course will select a particular part of Berlin’s infrastructure (office buildings, educational facilities, roads, water supply systems, leisure facilities, energy, etc.) or a particular building, collect data on the development of that type of infrastructure over the course of the last 100 years (or less, as appropriate), understand the context in which the particular developments occurred, and model the evolution of the infrastructure with 3D CAD, 4D CAD (3D plus time), and GIS tools (whichever are most appropriate). The goal is for each group to tell part of the story about the lives of the citizens of Berlin (during the Weimar republic, during the Nazi pre-WWII rule, during WWII before the bombing, after the bombing, in the post-war era in the East and the West pre-1961 and post 1961, and since 1989) by describing and visualizing the development of a type of infrastructure and the historic, political, economic, and social context that shaped the infrastructure over time. Towards the end of the class, all the graphical models will be combined into one model to explore relationships between the developments of the various types of infrastructure studied. By combining the findings and stories of all the groups a rich picture of the lives of Berliners through the many dramatic events of the 20th century should emerge. The students will learn how to conduct the research necessary to collect the information they need. They will also learn how to use 3D and 4D CAD and GIS tools and learn information visualization techniques. The class will include frequent presentations from local experts and the students. (GER2b) 4 units

Text: Reading material as needed for the course project.

Course Deliverables and Evaluation: The course project with corresponding labs and presentations will serve as the deliverable of the course. There will not be a mid-term or final exam.

Course Technology: Appropriate technologies will be determined as part of the scope of the project, but will most likely include tools like Autodesk’s Architectural Desktop (ADT) for 3D CAD modeling, scheduling software like Microsoft Project or Primavera’s Project Planner, and Common Point Technologies’ 4D software.

This page was last updated on by Lauren St. Clair.