Pedagogy 2025

Abstract

The learning of how to draw cities is part of an introductory course on urbanism at the Barcelona School of Architecture, a course that draws upon the urban analysis based on The forms of urban growth, a theory developed in the early 1970s by Manuel de Solà-Morales, founder of the Barcelona Laboratory of Urbanism. The exercise presented in this paper is intended for second-year students of architecture and aims to explore the image of the city, examining it through the lens of time to comprehend the evolution of urban form and the consequences of each historical moment in its growth. To this end, a personal city collage is to be composed, with images derived from a minimum of four historical maps sourced from open archives. The analysis of the city through a series of overlapping, fragmented images enables the deciphering of a palimpsest latent in its form, made up of layers from different moments. The combination of cartographic representations, elucidating the contemporary image, with a project comprising various components over time, responding to diverse concerns, results in the emergence of a multi-dimensional map. Concurrently, the rationale underpinning the selection of specific components of the found maps is informed by the personal approach each student adopts towards the urban environment. In an age where eminent libraries across the globe have unveiled their historical records and sophisticated scanning technologies allow for the capture and detailed scrutiny of cartographic documents from bygone eras, this pedagogical exercise – a blend of digital execution and analogue methodology – seeks to foster students’ comprehension of urban landscapes in entirety, whilst simultaneously cultivating their ability to critically evaluate the immediacy of digital information and geographical data.