Natura Urbana: The Brachen of Berlin
04.02.2024 from 18:30 to 18:30
Leading the contemporary debate on redefining nature in an open, queer and decolonial sense, geographer and urbanist Matthew Gandy, Professor of geography at the University of Cambridge, presents the film Natura Urbana: The Brachen of Berlin, 2017, 72’, a post-war history of Berlin through its plants.
The film takes us from the Trümmerlandschaften (literally “landscapes covered with debris”) and their unique ecologies to the abandoned roofs of the Friedrichshagen Waterworks on the edge of the city. Encountering an extraordinary variety of spontaneous vegetation from all over the world that has sprouted along railway lines, street corners, and in the distinctive Brachen of Berlin.
In the documentary the changing vegetation of Berlin serves as a parallel history to war-time destruction, geo-political division, and the newest phase of urban transformation. Natura Urbana takes us on a unique journey through Berlin ranging from the botanical microcosm of cracked paving stones to elaborate attempts to map the entire city in terms of its distinctive ecological zones.
After the screening of the documentary Natura Urbana: The Brachen of Berlin, 2017, a conversation will take place between Matthew Gandy and Lucilla Barchetta, writer and anthropologist, author of the book La rivolta del verde. Natura e rovine a Torino (AgenziaX, 2021). During the talk, the concepts of hybridization, toxicity, and decay will be addressed in response to the film and in relation to the Turin context.
Natura Urbana: The Brachen of Berlin is the second event of Vibrant Natures. On Decay and Rebirth and will be in english. The next event is on Sunday, February 11th, h.18.30 at Almanac Inn, Via Reggio 13, Turin, with a poetry reading group by Ethereal Society of Poetry on the theme of mysticism and enlightenment in relation to the concept of rebirth.
Matthew Gandy (England, 1965), geographer and urbanist.
Matthew Gandy is Professor of Geography at the University of Cambridge and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. His articles have appeared in many leading journals including IJURR, New Left Review, and Society and Space. His books include Natura urbana: ecological constellations in urban space (MIT Press, 2022), Moth (Reaktion, 2016), The fabric of space: water, modernity, and the urban imagination (MIT Press, 2014), and Concrete and clay: reworking nature in New York City (MIT Press, 2002). He is currently working on zoonotic aspects to urban epidemiology as part of a wider conceptual framing for the multi-species city.
Lucilla Barchetta (Italy, 1988) writer and anthropologist
Lucilla Barchetta is a non-binary anthropologist and PhD in Urban Studies. Their interests intersect the topics of environment, multispecies health and technoscience. They are the author of the book La rivolta del verde. Natura e rovine a Torino (AgenziaX, 2021), in which they delve into the hidden history of Turin’s riverside areas to reveal the intrinsic politicity of urban ecology.
The project is realized by Almanac Inn, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, and Orti Generali.
Vibrant Natures is realized with the support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione CRT and Regione Piemonte.
The event is presented in collaboration with the Department of Architecture and Design of Politecnico di Torino.
