Dozent: Hansuli Matter,
2007
‚Its in our ‚nature‘ to be with others and amongst things. (…) Our identity is determined by the links we create when we live and act in the world‘ – Urban Identity – The City as Place to dwell – Arto Haapala
This observation can be visualized as a triangle-shaped relation between our individual existence, the social milieu we live in and the corresponding, coating urban environment (consisting of natural and artificial space and objects). On one hand our individual existence is in constant relation with other individuals and the surrounding urban environment while on the other hand society is in constant relation with the urban environment and the individuals itself.
Cultural milieus
The statement above implies that the term ‚urban identity‘ can be used to describe different aspects. The term, ‘identity’ can be assigned to the subject (individual) or the object (environment). That means, that individuals may generate something like an urban identity in an urban context, while assigning the term to the environment, urban identity describes a characteristic quality of a specific urban constellation or set of artefacts. Both seem to cause themselves mutually.
In this paper, the term ‚urban identity‘ is used in this double meaning. Furthermore the relation between these two meanings is a main topic itself. In most contexts urban identity follows the needs of urban planning and marketing, not taking the need and values of individual existences in account.
Based on the cultural background of a society – or a part of – which occupies a specific environment with assignable urban qualities, the existence of different urban milieus according to the values and needs of this sub-society is obvious. The juicy point of this statement is, that a city always consists of different urban milieus and the appropriate individuals are using limited urban passages, i would like to call them ‚social passages‘. As a crucial point, claiming of urban space by financially well situated trendsetters represses and squeezes out the poor members of a society to a less attractive site outside the attractive but expensive urban centers.
Urban environment . social and technical media
As an side aspect, the relation of media and urban space defines an interesting context to the already described phenomena. The following themes may play a role in the proposed project:
> Urban space in media (Mass media, games, …)
> Media in urban space
– Social media: fashion, architecture
– Technical media: transportation systems,
lightning systems, streets
– Mass media: advertisement, street tags, brand logos
> Urban space as interface, stage for events
After having specified the use of the term ‘urban identity’ and as a mainly relation-determined systemically force and the role of media in urban space, let’s focus on the arising questions.
> Emergence: What are the conditions for the development of an ‘urban identity’? What are the rules for their changes over the decades?
> Can cultural milieus be seen as footprint of a active society, memories of urban culture?
> Risk: What endangers the existence of cultural heritage? What is the relation of old structures and new urban developments?
> Role: Who is mainly involved in this field? (Investors, government, political forces, cultural rooted avant-garde, inhabitants, mass media, designers?) What is the role of cultural heritage for an individual existence?
> Urban Literalism: How can ‘urban identity’ be read, compared, described? Are there illiterates in reading or assuming ‘urban identity? Which are the disciplines needed in this task?
> Process: How are urban developments planned, discussed and implemented? Who is involved in this process? Which platforms are available for such needs?
> Design: What could be the role of design in such processes?
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Core tasks of the project
> Understand, describe the phenomena of ‘urban identity’ and ‘social media’
> Understand and describe the cultural psychology of political processes and processes concerning town construction in asia versus european strategies
> Extract the blind spots, the potential for further work.
> Develop meaningful strategies and tools for the arising tasks.
> Evaluate appropriate programs for students in an intercultural design project (student exchange project).
> Establishing an international database, which describes these urban identities. (Platform could be DILPS : distributed image library system, which is being developed further to a DMLPS distributed media library system to prevent the whole range of media formats)