The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, in cooperation with Urbanism study association Polis, will play host to the annual Urbanism Week on October 6 to 10, 2014.
The five-day event brings together international speakers, designers and planners to deliver a series of lectures and workshops on contemporary Urbanism. This year’s theme centers on “The Scale Factor”, which will be examined from a number of different perspectives.
“The goal of Urbanism Week is to take the audience on a journey through the meaning of scale,” says Martina Gentili, spokesperson for the organizing committee. “Participants will have the possibility to explore different points of view on both theory and practice of Urbanism and on its relationship with Architecture. The aim is to reflect together on the role of Urbanism and to raise relevant questions in order to find new ideas for our discipline.”
Now on its fourth year, Urbanism Week builds on the knowledge gained from previous events. This year’s theme was chosen via a public survey among students and teachers of the Faculty of Architecture, which revealed an explicit need for reflection on the meaning of scale. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of Urbanism, prominent experts from various disciplines have been invited to discuss the theme from a mathematical, geographical, political and physical standpoint. Relevant films such as the Eames brothers’ “Power of Ten” and Evelyn Lambart’s “The Impossible Map” will also be screened during the event.
“Every Urbanism Week reflects the aspirations of the students who are organizing it, both in the choice of the theme and of the speakers,” says Kristian Spasov, chairman of the organizing committee. “The significance of Urbanism lies in its social implications. Urban design and planning shape the very world we live in, and society is deeply influenced by the physical space in which people interact with each other. Urbanism has a responsibility towards society, which is the reason why it is essential to reflect upon the relation between urban interventions at different scales and their effects on space and society.”
With more than 20 lectures, symposiums and events, Urbanism Weeks aims to develop an international platform for dialogue and discussion. “The goal,” according to Gentili “is to bring people involved or interested in the field of urbanism together and let them discuss and think about their practice.” Tickets for the event are available online via the Urbanism Week website. For more information, visit http://urbanismweek.nl.
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