Strasbourg, one of the capitals of Europe

Description

Lecturer: Alexandre Kostka

This seminar, which will be taught together with students from the KIT, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (one of the leading “Exzellenzuniversitäten” in Germany), has the ambition of putting the urban history of one of the capitals of Europe in a compared perspective. Starting with a look back at the origins of the city at the moment of Roman occupation of the Rhineland up to its blossom in the late Renaissance, we will consider mainly the periods where the overlap between the German and the French cultural realms were the most intense: the period following the conquest by France (1681) and the period of German administration between 1871-1918. We will focus on patterns of urbanism imposed by a hegemonic political administration, opening the perspective to questions of transfer of architectural knowledge and the administration of public space. Case studies will include the city of Poznan/Posen, Mainz/Mayence, Danzig/Gdansk, Helsinki, Riga, …
The practical organization will involve video classes by the docent and obligatory reading modules, as well as assigned multiple choice questions. The practical part will consist of several full-day visits in Strasbourg. At this moment, participants have to make presentations on specific buildings, linking them to the themes presented in the seminars.
This seminar will involve practitioners from the Museums of Strasbourg, the Oeuvre Notre Dame (Strasbourg cathedral workshop), the Council of Europe etc… it not only will give insight to theoretical questions, but also provide a “hands on” approach on the preparation of a larger exhibition to be held from 2023 on at the Bibliothèque Nationale Universitaire de Strasbourg, as well as other cities.