In the twenty-first century, cities are witnessing new ways of working, changing social demographics, increased geographical mobility and mass migrations, as well as the pervasive threat of the climate crisis. The primary question asked by the conference is this: what does it mean to be at home in the city in the twenty-first century? Our aim is to investigate the historical and theoretical genealogy of this question, premised on an understanding that the urban and the domestic, the public and the private, the individual and the collective, the political and the personal, are not opposing concepts but constructions that link the subject to the spatiality of the city. The conference also speculates on how the effects of the current pandemic will shape our lives, how it challenges our conception of the home and the city.
Keynote speakers include
Anna Minton
Anna Minton is a writer, journalist and Reader in Architecture at UEL. She has written two books, 'Ground Control in 2009' and 'Big Capital' in 2017.
Lawrence Barth
Lawrence Barth is a Programme Co-Director of Housing and Urbanism and an urbanist. He has consulted internationally on urban strategy for cities, architects and landscape architects, and has led planning and design projects for contemporary knowledge environments.
Tim Heide
Tim Heide is a co-founder of the architecture firm Heide & von Beckerath, a practice at the forefront of Berlin’s innovative housing experimentation.
Katharina Bayer
Katharina Bayer is the co-founder of einszueins architektur in Vienna, an award-winning practice focussing on new forms of urban housing.
Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews is a graphic designer and historian. His most recent books include ‘Homes & Places: A History of Nottingham’s Council Housing’ and ‘Cities of the North’, both published in 2016.