Georg-Simmel Center for Urban Studies

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Georg-Simmel Center for Urban Studies | News | Workshop - Urban Heritage and Urban Images: Imagineering Urban Heritage

Workshop - Urban Heritage and Urban Images: Imagineering Urban Heritage

  • When Oct 29, 2015 09:00 to Oct 30, 2015 03:00
  • Where GSZ, room 415
  • iCal

Humboldt University of Berlin, 29-30th October 2015

In Cooperation with the Institute for Art - and Image history at the Humboldt University of Berlin

 

Images of towns have a long history and they are since long research object of the art history and related disciplines. However city images, produced due economic purposes, are analysed only since short time, primarily in the social sciences. The production of city images is conceptualized as Urban Imagineering. This describes a differentiated discourse and practice field in which above all agents from city branding and urban economy are involved, but also urban politics and architecture in order to generate specific pictures, narratives and symbols of urbanity. Nevertheless, these city branding and identity creating practices and discourses are continuously changing and at the same time influencing the self-image of the city: this happens in a matrix of urban images, history, economy and heritage.

In this context a special role comes up to the tangible heritage: Along various interests different components of the heritage are interpreted with the help of history anew.  They are overloaded with different symbols and narratives in order to create an "uniqueness”.

In this frames the workshop aims to ask for the interaction between image, history and architecture. The following questions are formulated:

  • Which interaction exists between the tangible heritage and the production of city images?
  • To what extend does history in the process of transformation of heritage into images play a role?

The workshop intends to introduce and analyze case studies from all over Europe. There are especially such cases studies required which discuss the following perspectives:

  • Outgoing from architecture, they focus on the interaction between image, history and materiality in urban space;
  • Outgoing the social practices, they analyse the constructed and projected images.

workshop program (PDF)