SHUM 4723

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  • Schedule of Classes - October 15, 2026 7:07PM EDT

SHUM 4723
Survival by Design: Desert Architecture at the End of the World

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

Survival by Design: Desert Architecture at the End of the World investigates how architecture mediates survival in arid environments through history, environmental design, critical theory, and speculative imagination. Focusing on global case studies shaped by colonialism, resource extraction, and climate crisis, the course explores the desert as both a site of ecological precarity and a laboratory for adaptive design. Students from all disciplines can engage with architectural precedents, from ancient qanats to postwar eco-experiments and contemporary regenerative systems, alongside speculative fiction that envisions life beyond Earth. Through readings, discussions, workshops and interdisciplinary assignments, the course invites students to rethink sustainable architecture not merely as a response to crisis but as a creative and ethical practice of survival.


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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ARCH 4408, ARCH 6408, SHUM 6723

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8490 SHUM 4723   SEM 101

  •  
    • M
    • Jan 25 - May 11, 2027

    • Karimi, P

  • Instruction Mode: In Person