Potsdam, Germany

Architecture and Town Planning

Architektur und Städtebau

Bachelor's
Language: GermanStudies in German
Subject area: engineering and engineering trades
Qualification: Bachelor
Kind of studies: full-time studies
University website: www.fh-potsdam.de
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or any other structures. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
Planning
Planning is the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a desired goal. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as psychological aspects that require conceptual skills. There are even a couple of tests to measure someone’s capability of planning well. As such, planning is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. An important further meaning, often just called "planning" is the legal context of permitted building developments.
Town
A town is a medium-sized human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages but smaller than cities, though the criteria which constitute them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Architecture
A few centuries ago... the indigenous and often primitive architectural forms of that time had become suited to local climate through a long process of trial and error.
Ken Kern, The Owner Built Home: A How-to-do-it Book (1972)
Architecture
The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the insatiable demand of harmony in man. The mountain of granite blooms into an eternal flower, with the lightness and delicate finish, as well as the ærial proportions and perspective of vegetable beauty.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Of History.
Architecture
Architecture differs from a work of art, which can be displayed in different settings and the subject-matter, form and meaning will remain unchanged. The physicality of any built structure can be altered over time as additions and alterations are made. Moreover, a building or work of architecture can change its function as it meets the different demands of its occupants, although its exterior appearance may be unaltered. And its meaning may change depending on the nature of the context. This reveals some of the problems of interpreting historic architecture from a modern-day perspective as the physical changes and different cultural contexts transform the object.
Dana Arnold, Reading Architectural History (2002), Ch. 1 : Reading the past : What is architectural history?
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