Research Colloquium with Florian Urban
On Wednesday, December 7th, between 11:00 and 12:30, the second Research Colloquium of the Fall Semester 2022/23 will take place.
Our Guest, Florian Urban from Glasgow School of Art will present his recent research project. The title of the presentation is "Postmodernism in Europe: between Unlimited Growth and Ecological Awareness". Following the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions and discuss.
The Research Colloquium will take place on campus at Salzufer 6, 10587 Berlin in Studio 3.
Students across all disciplines are invited to participate in an interdisciplinary exchange. Be inspired and get to know new perspectives!
About the talk
We look back at postmodernism as the architecture of consumerism and unbridled market economy, of neo-liberal egotism and rejection of utopian plans, of colorful vanities and plays with no longer venerated historical forms and beliefs. But the postmodern period was also connected with one of the most fundamental themes of our current era: the realization that the earth’s resources are limited and that the unsustainable lifestyle of advanced Western economies may lead to global disaster – precisely of the kind that we are now facing with the climate emergency.
This paper will discuss postmodernism’s contradictory relationship to the environmentalist movement, an ambiguity that is evidenced, on the one hand, by the postmodern concern with energy-saving technology, adaptive re-use and dense urbanism, and, on the other hand, by the focus on growth, lavish forms, and energy-intensive construction.
About Florian Urban
Florian Urban is a Professor of Architectural History and Head of the History of Architectural and Urban Studies. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts in Berlin, an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA, and a Ph.D. in History and Theory of Architecture from MIT.