Events
Writing the city [into the urban]
Start:
May 3, 2018 5:00:00 PM
End:
May 4, 2018 6:30:00 PM
In the aftermath of the May 1968 uprising in Paris, Henri Lefebvre
published in 1970 his classic treatise La Révolution Urbaine where he
pointedly placed the urban in the centre of this revolution, identifying
a theoretical need for the concept of the urban as a planetary
possibility, one he considered more appropriate than a redundant notion
of the city as a social scientific object. With its English translation
in 2003 there has been a renewed interest in his hypothesis of the
planetarisation of the urban, triggering a contested debate of planetary
urbanisation where the continued relevance of the city has become a
moot point. As the resulting city/urban dialectical tension has led to a
gratuitous intellectual standoff, there is an urgent need to clear the
impasse and seek more fruitful modes of engagement.
Urban Rooms keynote: Christine Gaspar, Centre for Urban Pedagogy, New York
Start:
May 8, 2018 6:30:00 PM
End:
May 8, 2018 8:00:00 PM
As part of our exhibition and symposium on the past, present and future of Urban Rooms, please join us for a keynote lecture by Christine Gaspar, Executive Director of New York City's Centre for Urban Pedagogy.
Urban Rooms, Civic Schools & City Learning symposium and exhibition
Start:
May 9, 2018 10:00:00 AM
End:
May 9, 2018 6:00:00 PM
This one-day symposium will discuss the past, present and future of
urban rooms and civic schools in the UK to inform the vision for UCL’s
Urban Room at UCL's new campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,
Stratford. The event brings together practitioners and thinkers of
different generations who have worked to engage people with their
surroundings in order to discuss further action. It will uncover their
history, discuss its current iterations and explore future
possibilities.
Urban Salon: Art Festivals and the City
Start:
May 17, 2018 6:00:00 PM
End:
May 17, 2018 8:00:00 PM
The 2017
edition of the Documenta art festival featured a satellite event in Athens,
outside of its regular host city Kassel. Held every five years, Documenta is
widely considered one of the most influential contemporary art festivals, which
has historically been known for its field-configuring provocations. The latest
edition, however, garnered criticism of its excursion abroad as "crisis
tourism," a way to exploit the political and financial situation in Athens
for cultural consumption.
Urban Lab Films: New Town Utopia
Start:
May 24, 2018 6:20:00 PM
End:
May 24, 2018 8:30:00 PM
From Utopian dreams to concrete realities, New Town Utopia charts the challenging, funny, and sometimes tragic story of the British new town of Basildon, Essex.
Unmoored Cities: Radical Urban Futures and Climate Catastrophes
Start:
May 25, 2018 10:00:00 AM
End:
May 25, 2018 6:00:00 PM
As countless studies have
demonstrated, cities are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate
change. Indeed, many of the world’s cities
are at risk of becoming ‘unmoored’, whether literally sunk beneath
rising sea waters or tidal rivers or forced to relocate entirely. Such possible
urban futures challenge our imaginations to think through the physical, social
and cultural consequences of climate change; yet, on the whole, the current
literature on climate change and cities focuses on the mitigation of rather
than adaption to those consequences.