Modulverantwortung: Prof. Dr. Oliver Dufner
Lehrteam: Prof. Dr. Oliver Dufner, Dr. Marcel Bächtiger
Assistant: Tobias Furter

Escapes for Everyone
Touristic Architectures and Leisurescapes in Postwar France

In the economic boom years that followed the Second World War, the people of Western European countries became acquainted with a hitherto little-known concept: leisure time. Technological progress and increased production had not only led to a prospering economy, but also to a broad middle class that started to enjoy the freedom of after-work hours, weekends and holidays – a socio-cultural shift with significant spatial effects.

Aptly dubbed the «Trente Glorieuses» in French, the three decades between the end of the war and the oil crisis of 1973 arguably found their most characteristic architectural expression in France’s newly created holiday homes and leisure environments. Spanning from private hide-aways to state-initiated holiday villages, from alpine ski resorts to hotel complexes on the Mediterranean, the built manifestations of democratized tourism in France not only offer a rich panorama of postwar architecture, but also a dazzling example of what the French philosopher Michel Foucault called «heterotopia»: «a kind of effectively enacted utopia in which the real sites that can be found within the culture are simultaneously represented, contested, and inverted.»

In the first half of he semester, we will approach the topic through lectures, reading seminars, building analysis, and a study trip that will take us from Savoy to the Côte d’Azur. In the second half, students develop an academic paper exploring a self-chosen topic from the thematic framework. Bon voyage!