Two global growth processes set the frame for the symposium “Let´s walk urban landscapes”: First, the continuous expansion of “urban landscapes”,  and second the increasing importance of design research for the production of knowledge. Within this frame, the symposium sought to explore new pathways to transform urban landscapes through innovative design research approaches. 

An interdisciplinary, international group of 174 people who are engaged in the fields of urban landscapes and/ or design research approaches were invited. Following introductory lectures, the participants had been randomly distributed into six different workshop groups, each focusing on a specific design method of creating knowledge for designing urban landscapes. These workshops provided the participants with a specific methodological foundation for the design research experiment on day two, the core of this experimental symposium: Each one walked one of six proposed areas of Hanover´s urban landscape and explored it physically, mentally and emotionally. After returning to Herrenhausen Palace in the afternoon, people creatively expressed their findings in a collective pop-up exhibition (“Meshwork”) in the ballroom of the palace. In the morning of day three, the findings were intensively discussed by five reflection teams as well as the participants. The symposium ended with the plenary discussion “Walking towards the future”, proposing scenarios for transformative design research in urban landscape design.
 

Projektlaufzeit:
2015

Fördergeber:
Volkswagenstiftung

Bearbeitung:
Martin Prominski, Antje Stokman (TU Stuttgart)

Kooperationspartner:
STUDIO URBANE LANDSCHAFTE