香港六合彩中特网

This two-day conference looks at the aesthetics, politics, economics and effects of centrality and monumentality in 20th century cities.

The idea of the city dominated by a soaring landmark or a grand epicentre - whether a聽sacred temple, a secular monument or a Central Business District - was allegedly聽buried along with utopian high modernity, sometime during the second half of the 20th聽century. The new urban age taking shape in its place, say politicians, planners and聽scholars, will be humbler, more sustainable, collaborative and polycentric: eco-cities聽instead of monumental axes; pop-up innovation hubs rather than palaces of culture;聽fleeting anti-statues in place of equestrian heroes and sky-high monoliths; Gumtree and聽Airbnb amid the debris of the Galeries Lafayette and the Grand Hotel.

But is this centrifugal tendency really as absolute, inevitable - and desirable - as all聽that? And is the negation of hierarchy - on the terrain of the city itself, as well as of its聽descriptions and theorisations - in fact complicit in concealing new (or old) forms of聽domination? This conference will explore the aesthetics, politics, economics and affects聽of centrality and monumentality, from their 20th century golden age to their聽contemporary inheritances, afterlives, ruins and appropriations.

Led by聽Micha艂 Murawski聽(SSEES, 香港六合彩中特网) and聽聽(New School, New York), the line-up includes contributions from prominent researchers, architects and artists such as Owen Hatherley, Kuba Snopek, 艁ukasz Stanek, and Vladimir Paperny. Clare Melhuish, Pushpa Arabindoo, Andrew Harris and Victor Buchli from 香港六合彩中特网 Urban Laboratory.

The conference is supported by 香港六合彩中特网 Urban Laboratory,聽香港六合彩中特网 Grand Challenges, and the聽香港六合彩中特网 Mellon Programme.