| Beschreibung |
Cities in postsocialist and post-Soviet Europe underwent rapid and profound transformation after the fall of state socialism. These processes affected cities on multiple scales, including the planning institutions, the built environments and the everyday practices. As laboratories of change, postsocialist cities thus provide particularly promising entry points into the study of urban transformation. The seminar will first engage with theoretical and conceptual approaches on postsocialist urban change. Drawing on selected cases we will then explore how different aspects such as climatic conditions, infrastructures, (im-)materialities or actors matter in transformation processes. Throughout the seminar we will reflect on the question what we can learn from these experiences of profound rupture for current and future transformation processes.
The seminar is linked to the European Capital of Culture 2025 in Chemnitz and to the special exhibition ”Tales of Transformation” at the Industriemuseum Chemnitz (25 April – 16 November 2025). In collaboration with Cecile Sandten's (TU Chemnitz, Chair of English Literatures) seminar on ”Tales of Transformation: Fictions of the South Asian City”, we will shed light on urban transformations in a wider geographic context through workshops, lectures, site visits, museum tours, and creative research projects. This collaboration provides us with a comparative lens on urban transformation processes in post-socialist and in postcolonial (in conjunction with the Chemnitz students) contexts, allowing for a broader understanding of urban change across different historical and cultural settings. Besides the regular meetings, the seminar programme comprises two workshops, the first in Weimar and the second in Chemnitz, where students will attend lectures, museum tours, a film presentation, discussions as well as student presentations.
The workshops/excursions are scheduled as follows:
Bauhaus University Weimar: 8 – 9 May 2025
TU Chemnitz: 5 – 6 June 2025 (Industriemuseum Chemnitz)
Final organisational aspects will follow as soon as possible. |
