Reading Questions: Fischer, Chapters 1 & 2; Kunstler, Chapters, 3 & 4;
AudioVisual Guide Questions: Fritz Lang, Metropolis

Fischer,The Urban Experience, Chapters One and Two

• Define the term urban.
• What is a SMSA (Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area)?
• What is the theoretical controversy that dominates urban studies? (pp. 6-7) Consider the example on page 6, par.1. Fashion as many objectives to Alexander's statement as you can. What are the logical flaws in his statement?
• Compare modern cities to medieval and feudal cities.
• Trace the dominant ideas of urbanism in Western Culture.
• How did American ideas of the city take up this tradition? Consider Fischer's overview of literature, politics, science fiction films, and popular music.
• Explain each of the "four basic polarities that organize Western views of city life:" Nature vs. Art; Familiarity vs. Strangeness; Community vs. Individualism; and Tradition vs. Change. Which attributes are associated with the city? Which with rural space?
• Summarize American popular opinion on cities and urban life. What is the popular view of suburban life?
• Explain the three dominant schools of sociological argument regarding urbanism: Determinist Theory (theory of urban anomie); Compositional Theory; and Ecological Theory.
• How does Subcultural or Ecological Theory synthesize the first two theories? Explain the suggestion that urbanism does shape social life—not, however, by destroying social groups but instead by strengthening them. How does urbanism intensify subcultures?

• According to Kunstler, architecture and public land design connect fundamentally with the more abstract ideological tenets of a society. What was the national grid? How did the shape and structure of the national grid relate to American ideals such as individualism? What is the relationship between the grid and the American concept of community?
• Kunstler explains that American cities flourished almost solely as centers for business. How did this mercantile dominance show itself in the design of public spaces and structures?
• From 1850-1900, "city life changed more dramatically than any time since the Renaissance." In this period, the tenement emerged. Define this term and explain how the American notion of private property hindered the development of livable city space for the working poor.
• The Edenic concept of suburbia developed in this period. Define the anti urban bias of American life and explain how that bias gave rise to the utopic plan for suburbia.
• Define the dream of Arcadia that motivated much suburban development. What are the contradictions between the dream of Arcadia and the democratic spirit of American political life? What was the undemocratic model for the modern suburban house?
• What was the zoning design for suburban streets? Describe the features and drawbacks that persist today.
• Describe Downing's suburban prototype Llewellyn Park. What were its strengths and drawbacks? Describe Olmstead's Riverside. How did it differ from the modern residential subdivision? Kunstler claims that these suburban prototypes were not towns but rather real estate ventures. Explain this distinction. What were the class dynamics that underlay these "communities"? How were these communities "socially one-dimensional" and segregated? How did zoning controls create this stratification?
• By 1915, the romantic suburb was the accepted version of the Good Life in America. Why does Kunstler describe this way of life as "an inorganic community that pretended above all other virtues to be 'natural'?" What was the relationship of suburban wealth to urban civic amenities?

Metropolis, Fritz Lang

• How do the opening moments of the film create an ideological argument about urban life?
• What visual motifs are emphasized? Why?
• How are the characters established? Name them and trace Lang's presentation of them visually.
• How is city space imagined? Explain the nature and function of the vertical presentation of urban space in the film. How is this design element vitally connected to the plot and issues of the film?
• How is the industrial context of modern city life presented and understood in the film? How does the film use Marxist motifs to critique capitalism?
• How is the issue of power treated in the film's design and lighting?
• In what ways does the film comment on the nature of work in the industrial metropolis?
• How does the film use the images and metaphors of the Babel story?
• How does the film use science fiction to interrogate the industrial city? Discuss the "mad scientist" Rotwang. Discuss the "robot Maria."
• How are acting, makeup, lighting, and script used to distinguish the Evil Maria from the Good Maria? List the traits of each character. How are these distinctions related to gender stereotypes?
• Trace the biblical motifs (Tower of Babel, floods, Edenic tropes, and Christian imagery) in the film. How are the architectural designs on the cathedral doorway brought to life? Why?
• Describe the surrealistic techniques used by the film to show Freder's breakdown and the breakdown of civil society.