ALD4105H 
Instructor: Jason Nguyen
Fridays 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.

This course looks at the architecture of trade and exchange since the advent of global capitalism (c. 1600 – present). The aim is twofold: First, it introduces students to a number of built spaces that were designed to structure the flow of commodities and other goods across political borders, including customs houses, stock exchanges, ports, cargo vessels, trade zones, and warehouses. Second, it considers how the logistical operations of these spaces have supported and—at times—undermined the development of political economies in the present and past. By analyzing these “trade spaces,” the course hopes to recognize architecture’s multifaceted role in the creation, distribution, and accumulation of wealth, including its connections to globalization, enduring structures of economic and racial inequality, and the irreparable transformations of the natural environment in the modern era.

The study of this often overlooked financial architecture is critical to understanding the operations of the global economy, especially given recent debates on trade barriers, tariff policies, and the contested values of protectionism versus liberalization. We begin by considering key theories and methods to assess the relationship between architecture and capitalism in the global age. From here, the seminar focuses on different buildings, spaces, and technologies that conditioned the movement, storage, and staging of commodities and other goods. What forces (artistic, economic, ecological, racial, commercial, etc.) intersected in the design and construction of these spaces? What kinds of political and even aesthetic effects did they generate (and by whom and for whom)? How did each site relate to a larger political and economic infrastructure (including those tied to colonial and imperial networks)? Readings, discussions, and writing exercises will lead to a final project of each student’s choosing. 

Image: Claude-Joseph Vernet, “The Port of Rochefort and Its Colonial Magazines” (1754); oil on canvas, 165 x 263 cm; Musée du Louvre, Paris.