Visual engagements with vertical urbanism - LATTS
The Laboratoire Techniques Territoires et Sociétés (LATTS) next seminar will take place on April 17th, from 2 to 4PM, room B019 in the Bienvenüe building, and will be available in videoconference.
Andrew Harris, Associate Professor in Geography and Urban Studies at University College London, will discuss the theme: Visual engagements with vertical urbanism.
Urban scholars have been increasingly questioning the flat and horizontal way that cities have historically tended to be represented and understood. This greater recognition of the inherent vertical dimensions of urban life has been accentuated by a recent rapid three-dimensional growth of many cities around the world through high-rise construction, new forms of vertical mobility as well as increasing interest in underground sites and spaces. This presentation suggests that visual modes of engagement are central to grappling with this elevated role for verticality in contemporary urban studies. It explores a series of research, film and art projects that use interconnected visual methods, approaches and strategies to foreground and problematise some of the key dynamics and implications of a vertical age. These not only help develop more multi-sited and reflective critical engagements with vertical urban life but point to more imaginative, experimental and collaborative possibilities for urban analysis.
Andrew Harris is an Associate Professor in Geography and Urban Studies at University College London, where he convenes the interdisciplinary Urban Studies MSc. His research develops critical perspectives on the role of art, creativity and culture in recent processes of urban restructuring, and on three-dimensional geographies of contemporary cities. He is Co-Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory.
Image credit: Tom Wolseley