Architecture and Tourism

Architecture is an essential ingredient of most if not all tourism experiences, framing the holiday experience and being a tourism attraction at the same time.

In order to understand the complex relationship between architecture and tourism, we propose a coursework organized in two principal blocks - Tourism and the City, and Tourism and Landscape, framed by an introductory discussion on architecture, and a closing excursion to Venice.

The first part takes a user perspective on the context of buildings and the exploration of space in an urban context. Considering architecture an input into the production of the tourism experience, the role of different kinds of buildings/architectures for different segments of tourists will be discussed. A second theme will concern tourists’ use of the cityscape (streets, parks, neighborhoods) with special focus on guidance.

During the second part, analogous considerations will be made for the rural context. In addition, students will become aware of the characteristics of different landscape staging types and their potentials for guests and regional tourism development.

The overall objective is to transmit to students some essentials of architecture, come to appreciate and analyze its role for tourism in urban and rural contexts, and train and develop skills towards integration of architecture in tourism products and strategies.

Reading materials

Ballantyne, A. (2002). Architecture – A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Richter, J. (2009). The Tourist City Berlin: Tourism and Architecture. Salenstein: Braun Verlag.