This course examines the way people shape spaces and, in turn, the way spaces shape people.

The use of space to legitimate some behaviours, whilst censuring others, has been recognised by both benevolent and despotic powers. The organisation of the city, for example, has been an important theme since antiquity. Plato, one of the West’s most famous and influential philosophers, spent a good deal of thought on what constitutes the ideal city, who would be its legitimate and illegitimate inhabitants and who would govern it.

In modern times the goal of influencing behaviour through city planning is clearly evident. Modernists such as Baron von Hausmann and Le Corbusier and, closer to home, Walter Burley Griffin, recognised the role that space played in shaping the behaviour of individuals and in shaping the direction of society. Yet although space can be planned to some degree to direct people to act, speak and even think in certain ways, there are of course many other facets of human action that thwart the best laid plans. The unpredictability of human action ensures a constantly changing landscape, which can only be explained by understanding the interplay between people and space.

The material examined is topical in nature and includes Australian and international examples, with a focus on urban environments. This course is designed to open your eyes to different interpretations of places, events and behaviours.

The aim of the course, using real-world, student-driven case studies, is for you to have a deep appreciation of the relationship between environments and the behaviours and opportunities of people living in these environments. On the fieldschool to the Illawarra in particular, we will focus on the ways in which people’s health and well-being is influenced by the environments in which they live and work, and how, in turn, people shape the well-being of local environments.