FUSION: In the thicket of exclusive urbanity

Speaker: Carsten Keller, Uni Kassel

The public lecture series "Fusion" at the University of Kassel, which is dedicated to questions of architecture, urban planning and landscape planning, focuses this semester on questions of money and capital. The occasion is the 200th birthday of Karl Marx.

Even in the 200th year of Karl Marx's birth, capital is the driving force in the production of architecture, urban space and landscape, and many of the issues raised by Friedrich Engels in his book "On the Housing Question" are more relevant than ever. The "Fusion" series is introduced by a critical perspective on our growth-dominated society. Lectures on architecture take this up. They deal with cost-conscious repurposing of existing buildings and how resource efficiency - monetary as well as material - can generate more social innovation and sustainability, especially when architects act as project developers.

Lectures on urban planning discuss large-scale projects, how much capital is needed for them and how to raise it, as well as the impact of land speculation on the housing market, social participation and the right to the city. Landscape planning addresses the concept of ecosystem services. Can nature be made serviceable - what is the cost of valorizing large protected areas, national parks and biosphere reserves, and what regional value added do we receive in return?

More information at: http://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/universitaet/pressekommunikation/neues-vom-campus/meldung/article/vortragsreihe-zur-rolle-des-geldes-in-architektur-stadt-und-landschaftsplanung.html