Course Info

6 video lessons (81 Mins)
Published
2018

Preview Course

Browse Course Chapters

1.

Introduction

1 min
2.

Meet the Dreamers

17 mins
3.

Early Years

16 mins
4.

Forces Make Form

11 mins
5.

Old Montreal and Vancouver

16 mins
6.

Cities are for Everyone

18 mins

What You Will Learn

Understand the impact of the four featured architects in the fields of architecture, urban design, and urban planning.
Identify the key movements and concepts responsible for shifts in thinking about urban design and architecture throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.
Conceptualize the professional landscape in the field of architecture during the 20th century.
Understand the concept of 'urban heritage' and how to reconcile aspects of urban planning to promote more inclusive and sustainable urban places.

Course Description

The film "City Dreamers," directed by Joseph Hillel and released in 2018, tells the story of four women designers who worked to shape North American cities throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. Phyllis Lambert, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, and Denise Scott Brown sometimes worked in the shadows of the more famous male figures of the era, but they broke impressive new ground for female visionaries like themselves and those that have followed in their footsteps. The vision of these four architects have inspired transformations in cities around the world, informed by a synergistic relationship between the built environment and the natural world.

While acknowledging the difficulties of navigating a career in architecture, a field at the time dominated by men, the film focuses on celebrating the ambitions of these women. The film features compelling archival footage of cities like Montreal, Vancouver, and Philadelphia as they existed in the post-war 20th century as well as striking footage of the architectects explaining the concepts of equitable, healthy cities in a time when the idea of women in these positions of leadership in architecture and urban design still seemed novel.

Join Planetizen Courses in a celebration of the impact and legacy of four women architects, with the film "City Dreamers."