Staging urban landscapes the activation and curation of flexible public spaces

Abstract

In response to this fragmentation between realms and the resulting lack of coherence in addressing the city’s form, the discourse and practices of landscape urbanism emerged in the past two decades. Drawing inspiration from the critical conceptual and curatorial approach to urban activities and events pioneered by European urbanists in the 1980s, landscape urbanism proposed an unlikely collaboration between design culture and the orchestration of urban events. These trends can be observed in contemporary urban projects and practices on a global scale, encapsulated in three intricate and sometimes contradictory conditions that inform present-day urban projects. These dynamics are explored in the essays and case studies found in the book titled “Staging Urban Landscapes: The Activation and Curation of Flexible Public Spaces”, authored and edited by B. Cannon Ivers in collaboration with 12 other international authors. Collectively, they contribute to the development of a new discourse and fresh practices in contemporary urban curation.