All over the world, cities are facing challenges. How can we make a success out of the endeavour to develop and keep the urban space as a common space for society, even during times when it is capitalized and privatized? What is the part played by art, culture, architecture, self-organized action and activism?

During the past few years, artists, architects, philosophers, urbanists and activists from seven different European cities tackled these aspects within the project ACTOPOLIS | The Art of Action. The exhibition sets forth examples of projects from Ankara/Mardin, Athens, Bucharest, Belgrade, Oberhausen, Sarajevo and Zagreb. The materials coming from the over 45 individual projects make up a substantial portfolio of possibilities for transforming and improving the cities we live in. The exhibition (design NODE, Berlin – Oslo and SSW Architekten, Berlin) offers inspiration and concrete impulses to act.

Belgrade City Museum
Opening: Tuesday, 25th April, 6:30 pm
Exhibition Duration: April, 25th – May, 9th

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Rural spaces are transforming radically. The once remote countryside is now traversed by global and regional flows of people, goods, waste, energy, and information, linking it to urban systems. At the same time depopulation and economic decline are shaping it. International experts from theory and praxis will discuss these tendencies in a conversation. What role do villages and small towns have in an urbanizing world? Which potentials and challenges are brought forth by these transformations? And how can we design sustainable urban-rural-relations?

Come and join us to talk about these issues and create a (new) vision of the rural.

Discussion with:
Prof. Dr. Vanessa Miriam Carlow (Institute for Sustainable Urbanism, TU Braunschweig)
Doris Kleilein (Bauwelt)
Dirk Neumann (Institute for Sustainable Urbanism, TU Braunschweig)
Prof. Christiane Sörensen (Landscape Architecture, HCU Hamburg)
Prof. Dr. Eckart Voigts (English Seminary, Literary and Cultural Studies, TU Braunschweig)

pro qm – thematische Buchhandlung zu Stadt, Politik, Pop, Ökonomiekritik, Architektur, Design, Kunst & Theorie

Cities today face challenges all over the world. How is it possible to expand and preserve urban space as a common area of society even in times of its economic exploitation and privatisation? What is the role of art, culture, architecture, self-organised action and activism in these processes?

These questions were the focus of artists, architects, philosophers, urbanists and activists in seven different European cities in recent years as part of the transnational cooperation project ACTOPOLIS | The Art of Action. The exhibition presents examples of projects from Ankara/Mardin, Athens, Bucharest, Belgrade, Oberhausen, Sarajevo and Zagreb. Materials from the more than 45 individual projects reveal an abundant repertoire of action alternatives for shaping and transforming the cities in which we live.

ACTOPOLIS is a call to action that aims to inspire emulation. The materials presented on 50 panels are supplemented by media stations dedicated to the project’s film and video productions. The “public space” of the exhibition—areas for action between the semi-circular spaces—offers opportunities for local additions, fringe events and workshops.

An exhibition by the Goethe-Institut und Urbane Künste Ruhr. Artistic directors: Katja Aßmann, Angelika Fitz, Martin Fritz. Design: NODE Berlin Oslo. Architecture: Stadelmann Schmutz Wössner Architekten, Berlin

In the book launch at the University of Palermo, the editors Prof. Maurizio Carta, Prof. Jörg Schröder, Maddalena Ferretti, Barbara Lino will present “Territories—Rural-urban Strategies”, in cooperation between the University of Palermo and the University of Hannover. The discussion of the launch is led by Prof. Andrea Sciascia, director of the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo, and by Prof. Paolo La Greca, President of the Sicilian section of the National Institute of Urban Planning.

The research “Territories—Rural-urban Strategies”, funded by DAAD focuses on innovative planning and design approaches towards rural-urban constellations. The book collects urban and territorial planning, architecture and landscape projects and research for 41 places in Europe, with 32 international contributions from Italy, Germany, and Spain. “Territories” engages in the potentials of rural-urban interfaces for a vision of territorial futures of innovation and resilience. The organisation of the research has been coordinated by Prof. Maurizio Carta, Dipartimento d'Architettura, Università degli Studi di Palermo, and by Prof. Jörg Schröder, Fakultät für Architektur und Landschaft, Leibniz Universität Hannover.

In the launch also a new research project will be presented and started: “Dynamics of Periphery”. The aim of this new project in the cooperation of the University of Palermo and the University of Hannover is to explore potentials of marginality in urban and rural contexts: How can the innovative role of polycentric habitat contribute to a refreshed understanding of territorial qualities as incentive for economic growth?  “Dynamcis of Periphery” is part of the University Dialogue Programme of DAAD for 2017-18, financed by the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.