About

The contemporary American courthouse is an evolution in form that continues as our culture challenges issues of transparency, justice, and preserving order.  What was once a very public process has become private – shielded behind layers of security and process.  As civic architecture trends toward embracing modern form, can the design of space change traditional notions of civic duty, criminal justice and preserving liberty?

 

The course will focus on the study of specific case law (civil and criminal) and precedent architecture as a basis for developing ideas about the contemporary courthouse, including travel to Austin, TX to tour a modern courthouse.  Notions of public and private, light and dark, freedom and constraint will be explored.  Students will consider the criminal defendant, the judge, the civil party, the lawyer, and the juror, and question the impact of space on each.