Law as a Design Factor

Law as a Design Factor
22. July 2020 Cara Turett

Patrick Bonzanigo

State structure, legal system and negotiation processes related hereto shape the dynamics in the production of space and the image of landscapes, infrastructures and settlements. Spatially relevant legal provisions can provide impulses as design factors when planning spaces and territories at different scales and with different degrees of urbanization.

In this core course the students learn to understand key principles and spatially relevant aspects of the legal system and gain insight into formal and informal planning and participation processes. They are able to situate public and private law regulations at different planning scales and to consider them from a multiscale perspective as limitations and possible guidelines for landscape design.

After introducing law as a system and the structure of the multilevel state, the most important classifications and the central principles of law are introduced. Moreover, the task for the graded semester performance is explained. In further steps, knowledge on different levels of planning from supra-local to local to object-related scales (structure plans, land use plans, urban development and building regulations) is imparted. The focus here is on design-relevant and spatially effective content (areas, lines, volumes and density specifications). Further focal points are the cultural heritage and the temporal transformation (sites, inventories and objects of protection) as well as financial and operational aspects, in particular formal and informal planning and participation processes. The contents and the resulting interpretations and design perspectives are deepened and critically reflected in the context of a field trip.

Course days: 03.03; 10.03; 17.03; 18.03 (field trip); 31.03; 14.04; 21.04; 25.04 (mid-review with M. Voser); 12.05; 26.05; 09.06.

  • Course 061-0112-00L
  • Lecture dates:
  • Field trip: All day Saturday 18.03.2023, 9-17h
  • 2 Credits
  • Language: German
  • Prerequisites: Enrollment in MScLA Program