UNIT

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
2-22 August, 2010

Latent Urbanism | Berlin

When Conrad Schumann left his post guarding the Berlin Wall, choosing instead to throw down his rifle and make a leap for Western liberty, he became more than just a symbol of Cold War defection: he became the first Latent Urbanist. Seizing opportunity in an increasingly inhospitable city, he redefined the way we engage with our urban environments. He demonstrated how small, carefully considered action, enacted where the fabric of our cities are most fragile can have the most potent consequences.

The city of Berlin has since undergone several periods of significant trauma and transformation. Growing out of two world wars, living through three decades of east-west division followed by re-unification, rebuilding and more recent bankruptcy, Berlin is riddled with the scars of its history: abandoned trenches, unfinished infrastructure, bullet-ridden buildings, unrealised grandeur. Politically it is caught between socialism and capitalism. Physically: between the destruction of war and urban regrowth. Culturally: between division and unity. This is a city still coming to terms with its physical and cultural territories yet revelling in the uncertainty of its future. It is no surprise therefore, that the international creative class continue flock to Berlin with dreams of realising its latent possibilities.

This studio shares that dream: to realise what lies dormant, both physically and culturally in the city of Berlin. It will address Berlin’s urban in-betweens, focussing on its squats, riverbanks, communes, rooftops, no-man’s lands and under-crofts as sites for physical, cultural and political appropriation. The studio will develop both formal and informal strategies for housing Berlin’s homeless and transient populations.

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Architectural Association School of Architecture
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ANCB Re-act Lab São Paulo Architecture Experiment
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UNIT
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
2-22 August, 2010

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University of Limerick
25 July - 11 August, 2010


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