Paris, Shanghai, New York City – many of the world’s greatest cities were founded on the banks of rivers. Historically, rivers provided access to food, to transportation, to trade, and to communication with other communities. They were the lifeblood of settlements, the mothers of civilizations. But we know that as our cities developed, our relationship to the rivers has changed. Newer modes of transit and communication mean we no longer rely on rivers in the same way. Industries that helped shape much of modern towns and cities in New England and abroad have waned, leaving pollution and sometimes blight in their wake. Decades of channelized rivers have led to the erosion and disappearance of our flood plains. The once porous ground is hardened and rigid and as such, more prone to flooding and overtopping.

The point of this studio is not to return cities to an earlier time, but to remind ourselves of the dynamic relationship that cities and rivers once held and could hold again. Neither city nor river is a static thing; rather, they embody dynamic complex processes with shifting forms and ever-evolving trajectories. The challenge here is to learn to navigate these processes in order to develop design work that respects both city and river. As a point of departure, we will begin the semester by examining river cities through case studies and analysis, developing the tools needed for working and designing in urban contexts, along with skills for systems and scalar thinking. We will then take these tools and skills and begin to apply them to a larger project located on the Charles River in the Boston/Cambridge/Watertown area. Invited speakers will provide guest lectures to broaden the conversation and provide a greater range of perspectives.