Symposium Natural City

Ideal spaces working group

Villa Gehmann, Nesslerstr. 16, 76227 Karlsruhe/Germany

Together with Jeff Klotz (https://www.jeffklotz.de/), we will be hosting a symposium combined with an art exhibition on the Natural City on the weekend of September 1 + 2, 2023, at the foundation’s seat in Karlsruhe, Germany (Nesslerstr. 16, 76227 Karlsruhe)

The venue is in a landscape protection area outside the city, has a large garden and a villa from the 1950s with the possibility of an overnight stay. The foundation can be easily accessed from the A5 Basel/Frankfurt, the A8 Stuttgart/Munich, airport Baden Airpark, or Karlsruhe main station

The symposium will explore the following topic areas:

• the history of the idea, and of the ‘natural’ & ‘green’ city in its history; and how this has manifested up to the present day;
• the urban (“city”) today as a non-place and ecological hazard;
• the natural/green city of the immediate future, and related to this,
• new places for new communities.

Amongst others,

– Barbara Tagliolini, an Italian anthropologist, will report about a public garden of Roman origin, refurbished and re-used by different multi-ethnical communities;

– Sam Olshin, US-architect, will report about new communal place-making for different stakeholders, using the space already existing in urban areas;

– Tim Kaysers, member of the chamber of Architects of Baden-Württemberg, will present a completely new approach on the topic of the “green” city

The symposium will take place across two full days (September 1+2), with a combination of short presentations and moderated discussion, both of which we intend to publish.

The symposium will be recorded and streamed live.

There is also an opportunity to participate online. Please let us know if you would like to attend virtually. Once we have processed your registration, you will receive information on how to access the event remotely.