Natura Urbana: Ecological Constellation in Urban Space
03.02.2024 from 17:00 to 17:00
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 his book Natura Urbana: Ecological Constellation in Urban Space (MIT Press, 2022).
Starting from a layered vision that combines queer ecology, multispecies urbanism, relational theory and critical landscape studies, Gandy elaborates a notion of urban space understood as a place in transformation, both natural and subjective, for the individuals who participate in it.
In his presentation Gandy will outline a working typology for urban ecology that highlights four analytical vantage points: systems-based approaches that dominate both pedagogy and practice; longstanding observational paradigms that have recently permeated citizen science, new nature writing, and novel aspects of environmental art; urban political ecology perspectives that explore the structural dimensions to the production of space; and an emerging interest in multispecies urbanism, with links to critical animal studies, multispecies ethnographies, and more-than-human geographies.
Natura Urbana: Ecological Constellation in Urban Space is the first event of Vibrant Natures. On Decay and Rebirth. Introduced by Filippo De Pieri, Professor of Architectural History at the Department of Architecture and Design, Politecnico di Torino. The event is presented in collaboration with the Department of Architecture and Design of Politecnico di Torino. The event will be in english.
The next event is on Sunday, February 4th, h.18 at Almanac Inn, Via Reggio 13, Turin, featuring the screening of Matthew Gandy’s film Natura Urbana: The Brachen of Berlin, 2017. This will be followed by a conversation between Gandy and Lucilla Barchetta, writer and anthropologist, author of the book La rivolta del verde. Natura e rovine a Torino (AgenziaX, 2021).
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.
Filippo De Pieri (Italy, 1968), professor and architectural historian.
Filippo De Pieri is Professor of History of Architecture at Politecnico di Torino. His research covers a plurality of geographical areas (Europe, East Asia, North America) and topics such as the history of early nineteenth-century planning, the history of urban conservation in the twentieth century, the history of collective living and the environmental history of architecture. Among his publications: Esplorazioni nella città dei ceti medi: Torino 1945-80 (LetteraVentidue, 2015, con G. Caramellino, C. Renzoni, M. Pace) and Tra simili. Storie incrociate dei quartieri italiani del secondo dopoguerra (Quodlibet, 2022).
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.
