Public Talk: “Making sense of urban destruction: Architecture, memory, and repair”
The Zukunftskolleg invited everyone to the public talk led by Gruia Badescu (Research Fellow / Department of History and Sociology).
On behalf of our Research Fellow Gruia Badescu (Department of History and Sociology) we invited you to his talk entitled
"Making sense of urban destruction: Architecture, memory, and repair"
on 11 October 2023, 17:30
in Konzil Konstanz.
Abstract:
Cities have been targets of destruction in wartime and of reshaping during authoritarian regimes. Yet ambitious planning schemes as well as real estate calculations also led to cityscapes being dramatically altered. This talk addresses the aftermath of such urban destruction, focusing on processes of reconstruction and reparative measures after war and dictatorships. It explores a variety of ways of engaging with urban destruction, from post-war reconstruction which aims to problematize the past to memorial acts connected with the violence of authoritarian regimes. Drawing from research in European, Middle Eastern and Latin American cities, it also traces how the reshaping of cities is connected by circulations of ideas and practices. Bridging the dimensions of urban transformations and memory, it thus interrogates how cities grapple with their often traumatic pasts and imagine their futures.