URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS AND ANTICIPATIONS: BANGKOK, BUENOS AIRES, NEW YORK
DESIGN AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The second international Symposium of the Design and Social Development Program of the Observatory on Latin America (OLA) of The New School was held May 26-29, 2013 at the School of Architecture, Design, and Urban Planning (FADU) of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). This event was hosted by FADU and was a collaboration of The New School, FADU and the School of Social Sciences of UBA, and Chulalongkorn University of Bangkok, Thailand.
Under the theme of “Urban Transformations and Anticipations,” the symposium brought together designers, social scientists, and historians from the three universities to examine how interdisciplinary collaboration can improve understanding of pressing urban challenges such as social inclusion, and better living conditions relating to housing, water supply, sanitation and environmental health.
The symposium included a visit to one of the largest informal settlements in Buenos Aires, a formal symposium with papers presented by scholars from each university, a day-long design studio involving students from Buenos Aires and the International Field Program of the New School, and a panel discussion of the deans of six architecture schools in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Thailand. The event also included an exhibition showing the social dimensions of the different design fields taught at FADU, including textiles, graphics, industrial and architecture with 42 projects by FADU students. An international jury awarded a prize of a visit by a FADU student to The New School in New York in Fall 2013.
“Better understanding across disciplines is a precondition for more effective urban practice,” said Margarita Gutman, Co-Director of OLA and Associate Professor of Urban Studies and International Affairs, The New School for Public Engagement. “The symposium highlighted the need for a common language of description and analysis, the richness of complementary disciplinary knowledge, and the importance of strengthening urban knowledge. Fostering such interdisciplinary collaboration will allow us to identify inclusive and equitable urban futures, whether at the neighborhood, city, or metropolitan scale.”
The next seminar will be held in October 2014 at the New School and will include these three universities as well as wider representation from Latin America and South East Asia. For more information please visit http://observatorylatinamerica.org/en/programs/design-and-development
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