Who has shaped critical debate within the interdisciplinary context of built environment theory? What are the key texts which help define and act as pivotal references within those debates? Each discipline has its crucial influences, and it is often at the interface across those disciplinary divides that the most powerful exchanges, arguments and theoretical innovation have been fostered. Pivotal to our field is a capacity to think and engage spatially. We privilege space in our view of the world, and as a basis for understanding the complexities which shape processes and societal interactions within built environment contexts. This course challenges students to critically engage with key spatial thinkers and their works, for example David Harvey, Henri Lefebvre and Manual Castells, and share their perspectives on how this work infuses the way we understand, engage with, practice in, and seek to change, the world around us. Each week, a group of students will report on and lead discussion focusing on their selected thinker. Students will be expected to read extensively and strong emphasis will be placed on students’ participation in these discussions.
