May 2, 2014, DAZ Berlin

Opening: WELTSTADT – Who creates the city?

   

Exhibition: 05.03. - 06.01.2014 // Wed - Sun // 2 - 7 pm // DAZ

Who creates the city? Who shapes its future? On May 2nd and 3rd activists and planners will come together at the German Architecture Center (DAZ) to discuss these questions. Over the past year these actors, spread over ten different countries on four continents, took initiative to create and shape their own city through citizens' initiatives, artistic interventions and neighborhood projects. WELTSTADT is bringing their experiences and solutions back to Germany – with a conference, an exhibition and theme-based newspapers from all ten projects.

A neighborhood kitchen in Lisbon, activists who re-write Belgrade's city map and architecture students in Johannesburg who aim to co-create and improve the living conditions in an informal settlement together with its inhabitants. Around the world citizens are reacting to the changes in their neighborhoods and are actively claiming their right to the city. City planning as a highly
specialized, centrally organized field is being enhanced, infiltrated or taken over by a new and often informal constellation of actors. WELTSTADT offers a common ground for discussion without disregarding the local character and intricacies of city making. Projects evolved together with the Goethe-Instituts in Bangalore, Belgrade, Curitiba, Dakar, Johannesburg, Lisbon, Madrid, New York, Porto Alegre, Riga, Salvador, São Paulo, Seoul, Toulouse, Turin and Ulan Bator that provide insights into local inricacies but also allow for comparisons and exchange among the projects.

Heiner Farwick (President BDA), Johannes Ebert (General Secretary Goethe-Institut), Gunther Adler (State Secretary BMUB), Angelika Fitz and Matthias Böttger (Weltstadt Curators) will speak at the opening.

WELTSTADT – Who creates the city? is curated by Matthias Böttger, Angelika Fitz and Tim Rieniets (until 2013).

WELTSTADT – Who creates the city? is an initiative by the Goethe-Instituts and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.

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All images © Schnepp . Renou