A German native, I have lived in Belgium, France, Japan and the United States for many years and have traveled extensively through Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America. My mental map of my "hometown" is thus composed of bits and pieces from around the world. It includes such monuments as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Palace of Justice in Brussels or the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia as well as Hamburg -- natural landmarks, the Alster central lake, the Elbe river, Mount Fuji or the Tokyo Bay. My city is not only composed of famous landmarks, though; it includes just as much vernacular architecture and everyday neighborhoods. I have been interested in the study of architectural and urban history as much as in urban reality, in citizen movements and transportation systems from around the world.

My courses on architecture and the city are thus the outcome of a fascination with the built environment since childhood and of walking through numerous cities as well as of my training in architectural and urban design, theory and history. Form of the City, Survey of Western Architecture, History of Modern Architecture, The European Metropolis, Architecture and Urban Form in Japan, Capital Cities: Places of Art and Power and War, Catastrophes and the City are courses that I love to teach, as they combine personal involvement, scientific interest, and my desire to share with students my fascination with cities. In discussion with students, I try to reach a better understanding of the built and urban environment, its history and future, and devise ways to become actively involved in our contemporary cities. Senior Seminar in particular allows students to develop their own interests while maintaining an intimate exchange with us.

Apart from publications on the history and actuality of cities, I have several ongoing projects (see curriculum vitae). My research and teaching interests include 1) "competition cultures," a study that examines design competitions in architecture and planning as expression of regional and national cultures; 2) "capital cities," an analysis of capital cities worldwide as the loci of culture, economics, politics and social movements as reflected in the built environment and art works; 3) "architectural and design schools," an examination of different traditions of learning and teaching the design of the built environment and its artifacts, and finally 4) "war, catastrophes, and the city," a class and a research project examining the impact of war and war-derived doctrines, languages, planning and building techniques on urban development.

My research has led to the publication of a monograph, The Capital of Europe: Architecture and Urban Planning in the European Union (Greenwood-Praeger 2004) and several edited books, notably Brussels: Perspectives on a European Capital. (Brussels: Publication of the Foundation for the Urban Environment, 2007) and Bruxelles l'Européene: Capitale de qui? Ville de qui? European Brussels. Whose capital? Whose city? (Cahiers de la Cambre-Architecture n 5, La Lettre Volée, 2006), Cities, Autonomy and Decentralization in Japan (edited with Philippe Pelletier, Routledge, 2006), and /Rebuilding Urban Japan after 1945/ (edited with Jeffry Diefendorf, Yorifusa Ishida, Palgrave Macmillan 2003). The latter resulted from a colloquium entitled "The Rebuilding of Japan's Bombed Cities, A Comparative Analysis," which I organized at m Mawr in 2001. I also edited and mainly authored Hauptstadt Berlin. Der internationale städtebauliche Ideenwettbewerb 1957-58 (Gebr. Mann, 1991).

In 2007, I have received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for my ongoing project “The Global Architecture of Oil”. In 2005, I was awarded a Planning and Development Fellowship from the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy for research on: Regional Integration and Land Policies Affecting the Future Development of Tallinn, Warsaw, and Budapest as Part of the Polycentric EU Headquarters Network. In 2004, I received the The Planning Perspectives Best Article Prize 2002-03 for "Maurice Rotival-French Planning on a Global Scale."

I am on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Urban History and a member of the academic steering community of the peer-reviewed academic e-journal Brussels Studies (published in English, French, and Dutch) that focuses on current issues in Brussels in any discipline or language.

Currently, I am co-organizing a session at the EAUH conference in Lyon 2008 entitled "Port Cities: Social, Cultural, and Built Repositories of Globalization and Networking in the 19th and 20th Century" Please see the Call for Papers.

If you want to know more about the Growth and Structure of Cities Program, urban form, architecture or the built environment, please look at our website, send me an e-mail, or come to see me in Thomas 243. I will be happy to talk to you.

Curriculum Vitae

Office: Thomas Hall 243
Telephone: 610-526-5045
Email: chein@brynmawr.edu
Office hours: Fri. 12:30-2pm and by appointment