Byens Angst is an exhibition in ONSITE GALLERY. The exhibit will run from September 26th to October 29th. The exhibition is done by Thomas Hilberth and students from Teaching Programme 3.

War, politics and the city have historically always been interrelated. As Paul Virilio pinpoints, there is not only an etymological connection between polemics, politics and polis. Recent forms of asymmetrical warfare or terrorism have also had consequences on the formation of space and architecture in cities around the world.
This adds to the already existing territories of fear within the urban fabric; spaces where danger is imagined or perceived, where uncanny, unlawful actions are suspected to take place. Fear literally takes place, occupies and inhabits certain areas of the city at certain moments thereby stigmatizing whole neighbourhoods and districts.
Different strategies are deployed to counter these perceived and imaginary threats. Many of these strategies contain elements that are counterproductive to the establishment of a prosperous and liveable atmosphere in our cities.

Surveillance, segregation, surface hardening, stealth tactics and cocooning are just some phenomena that try to cope with a steadily growing environment of fear. The vicious circle of countermeasures and fear suffocates an unburdened experience of public space. The cry for more security benefits the industry but can hardly qualify and stimulate the safe environment we actually thrive for and thrive in. Surveillance, differentiation and territorialisation strategies destroy the live-supporting spaces in our cities that help its citizens both to be free and feel free. They create an environment of suspicion and hostile to live that produces desperation, hopelessness and fear.
Ethologist Robert Ardrey identifies three elementary needs in many living species. It is the need for identity, stimulation and security. All three needs are satisfied through the very architectural concept of territorialisation and are psychological necessities that have to be carefully balanced especially in the development of our urban spaces.

The dichotomist antagonists of those three needs will even better clarify their importance. The opposite of identity is anonymity, boredom is the antonym of stimulation and security is contrasted by the feelings of angst or fear. Too much security though contains the self-destructive elements of boredom and anonymity, characteristics that more and more define our city spaces after opening hours.

On the other hand there are constant physical reminders of abstract dangers and threats expressed through surveillance cameras, jersey barriers and bollards, the new and obnoxious manifestations of a society and city of fear.

The Exhibition thematically investigates the topic “Citiy of Fear – Fear of the City” through explorations into the dark allies and underpasses of Aarhus. Securitzing and martializing the city through protective infrastructure and surface hardening as well as surveillance and control are topics addressed.

Forelæsningsrækken “Grundlæggende forelæsninger om arkitektur” kredser om det grundlæggende spørgsmål ”hvad er arkitektur”?Hvor kommer arkitekturen fra, hvordan har den udviklet sig gennem tiden og hvordan manifesterer den sig som den nødvendige, men (forhåbentlig) også berigende og inspirerende fysiske ramme om menneskers hverdagsliv? Arkitektskolens professorer vil på skift forsøge at besvare disse spørgsmål, via forskellige blikke på arkitekturens udvikling og samfundsmæssige rolle.

Onsdag d. 30. oktober holder Karl Christiansen forelæsningen “Grundlæggende tektonik 1”. Om forelæsningen skriver han:

“Om forholdet mellem teknologi, teknik og tektonik. Om begrebet tektonik, fra dets oprindelse i den græske antik, dets forhold til andre græske begreber som techne og poesis, og om begrebets anvendelse igennem tiderne, herunder om den jordskorpe vi alle bebor – de tektoniske plader. Og om hvordan denne naturlige geologiske tektonik relaterer sig til den kulturlige kunst generelt og – naturligvis – specielt den kunstart som lyder navnet arkitektur, som tektonik-begrebet især retter sig imod. ”

Literaturliste til videre inspiration om dette emne:

“TEKTONIK – den tektoniske fordring”
af Karl Christiansen
Valville, 2019

“TECTONICS – the meaning of form”
af Karl Christiansen
Systime, 2015

We proudly announce a lecture by Spanish Architect Eva Prats, who is a jury member on the international student competition Drawing of the Year 2019.

About Eva Prats

Eva Prats is a Spanish architect who graduated from the School of Architecture of Barcelona in 1992. After a long collaboration at Enric Miralles’ office, Eva established Flores & Prats Architects together with Ricardo Flores in Barcelona in 1998.

The office has worked on reoccupations of old structures, as well as on neighbours’ participation in the design process of urban public spaces, and on social housing and its capacity to create community. Flores & Prats obtained among others the Grand Award in Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts of London for their Mills Museum in Mallorca, the City of Barcelona Prize and the Special Mention at the Spanish National Awards for the Sala Beckett International Drama Centre and the City of Palma Prize for the Cultural Centre Casal Balaguer. They have been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Awards 2005, 2015 and 2016, and exhibited at the last four editions of La Biennale di Venezia.

Eva Prats is Associate Professor at the School of Architecture of Barcelona, Professor of Architecture at RMIT Melbourne, Chair Professor at ETH Zurich, and has directed design workshops in universi­ties of the United States, South America, Europe and Australia.

Click on image to view.

Forelæsningsrækken “Grundlæggende forelæsninger om arkitektur” kredser om det grundlæggende spørgsmål ”hvad er arkitektur”?Hvor kommer arkitekturen fra, hvordan har den udviklet sig gennem tiden og hvordan manifesterer den sig som den nødvendige, men (forhåbentlig) også berigende og inspirerende fysiske ramme om menneskers hverdagsliv? Arkitektskolens professorer vil på skift forsøge at besvare disse spørgsmål, via forskellige blikke på arkitekturens udvikling og samfundsmæssige rolle.

Onsdag d. 6. november holder Walter Unterrainer forelæsningen “Proportion, scale and rythm in architecture”. Om forelæsningen skriver han:

“Proportion, scale and rhythm are fundamental and interconnected aspects of architecture. The lecture elaborates a variety of theories from ancient Greece till our days, looks into architecture of Japan and Angkor and reveals different sources of these theories in nature, human proportion, building materials, structural principles as well as other art forms like music. Iconic architectures and interiors of Athens, Brunelleschi, Palladio, Le Corbusier, Aalto, Terragni, Eames and others illustrate how these theories were applied to architectural practice.”

Literaturliste til videre inspiration om dette emne:
Architecture – Form, Space and Order
by Francis D. Ching