After successful completion of the course, students are able to recognize the interrelationships between spatial and temporal structures in urban environments and to understand the causes of current spatio-temporal developments and conflicts.

Social time structures are influenced to a considerable extent by the spatial organization of society. The temporal organization in turn has repercussions on the structures and the use of space. Based on the spatial and temporal urban phenomena - Entgrenzung, Verdichtung and Entkopplung (Henckel, Herkommer: 2004) - commonalities of spatial and temporal developments in the European city are examined and causes for continuous and abrupt changes in urban temporality are discussed in the seminar. A thematically structured analysis of causes (organisation of work, housing conditions, mobility, media, economy, politics) is intended to provide an overview of space-defining artificial clocks in urban everyday life in the late modern era and to search for further spatiotemporal phenomena. Subsequently, the focus is on current conflicts in the chronopolitical debate in architecture and urban planning.

„Time unfolded at its usual sluggish, half-confused pace.They lived in a ramshackle house in one of the amorphous suburbs, a zone of endless afternoons.“ 

J. G. Ballard: „Chronopolis“ (New Worlds 1960).

The seminar is based on a selection of texts from the fields of architecture and urban theory, science fiction, philosophy, sociology, sleep research and political science. In addition to the joint reflection on these texts, there will be short input lectures with reference to specific architectural and urban planning projects as well as discussions with invited guests from the respective research field.

The seminar is conceived as an interdisciplinary course for master's students in the fields of architecture and spatial planning. Architecture students can have the seminar (6 ECTS) credited as a Freies Wahlfach.

Literature (selection): 

Barbara Adam: Time and Social Theory (1990)

J.G. Ballard: Chronopolis (1960)

Beatriz Colomina: The Century of the Bed (2014)

Jonathan Crary: 24/7 Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep (2014)

Silvia Federici: Reproduktionsarbeit im globalen Kapitalismus und die unvollendete feministische Revolution (2012)

Dietrich Henckel, Benjamin Herkommer: „Gemeinsamkeiten räumlicher und zeitlicher Strukturen und Veränderungen“ (in : Walter Siebel: Die europäische Stadt, 2004)

Henri Lefebvre: Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life. (2004)

Rasheedah Phillips: Placing Time, Timing Space: Dismantling the Master’s Map and Clock (2018)

Andreas Reckwitz: Gesellschaft der Singularitäten (2017)

Bernard Stiegler: Automatic Society. The Future of Work (2017)

The scope for participants includes the preparation of a presentation in a small group based on one or two selected texts, the submission of min. 5 reading comments, the participation in discussions and the writing of a seminar paper on a key topic of the course.

Basic knowledge of text analysis and scientific writing is required.