Hoograven Symposium (including report)

The symposium challenged existing policies of (state-led) gentrification in urban regeneration areas. These policies add to the existing fragmentation by bringing in new isolated pockets, eradicate the vernacular that is slowly developing from the present occupation, and ignore the need to redefine the relation between public and private space.

The challenge is to use imaginative design as a vehicle to reconsider everyday urban practices and to create alternative visions for urban redevelopment, starting from the understanding of the vulnerability and resilience of communities and of the unseen qualities of the area. The next step is to activate and support these communities in improving their quality of life.

Programme
Chair: Ella Vogelaar

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Opening of the symposium: Gert Staal, curator Utrecht Manifest 2009

13:30 —Understand—
Stefano Casciani (Domus Magazine Editor, President SCMD Media & Design, Workshop Professor Domus Academy)

Reflection: Pieter Hooimeijer (Professor of Human Geography and Planning at Utrecht University)

14:30 —Imagine—
Alfredo Brillembourg & Hubert Klumpner (Professors of Architecture, GSAPP Columbia University New York / Urban-Think Tank architects Caracas)

Reflection: Wouter Vanstiphout (Crimson Architectural Historians)

15:30 Break

16:00 —Activate—
Michael Sorkin (Professor of Architecture and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design at the City College of New York)

Reflection: Henk Ovink (Director Spatial Policy Office—Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment)

17:00 Discussion

18:00 Drinks

Location: De Pastoe Fabriek, Rotsoord 3, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Official Language: English

Photos: Roel Stevens