SCHOLARS in Transition #1

2020-2021 EDAR Lecture Series

For organizational purposes, all participants in-situ need to register in advance here, and have their names approved at the registration desk before the event.

EDAR Doctoral Program of Architecture and Sciences of the City at EPFL is delighted to launch the new series of lectures SCHOLARS in Transition.
The series aims at giving a voice to contemporary scholars who, within their ongoing research activity, are experiencing a « transition » condition. Their contribution to new, emerging research topics, tentative interpretations and unconventional approaches, marks the intersection of their personal research agendas, the evolution of their discipline, the public debate, and the availability of sources and data.
SCHOLARS in Transition will be a means of a collective debate on the potential of scientific initiative and responsibility of scholars in the fields of Architecture, Urbanism, Regional and Urban Studies.

SCHOLARS in Transition #1
For the first conference of this series, we are happy to host Joachim Declerck and Filippo De Pieri. The two research fields of research by design and urban history will be put in dialogue, starting from the question: what is planning about?
The language of the conference is English.

Joachim Declerck is an engineer-architect and founding partner of Architecture Workroom Brussels (AW) – a European think-and-do tank for innovation in the field of architecture and urban and regional development. As a guest professor he has been associated with Ghent University (BE) since 2014, and with EPFL since 2020. The main theme of his work is the use of design and spatial development as levers for the realization of important social transitions. Declerck was the curator of the exhibition Building for Brussels – Architecture and Urban Transformation in Europe (2010). He was a member of the curatorial team of the 5th IABR: Making City (2012) and of the Belgian Pavilion at the 13th Architecture Biennale in Venice, entitled The Ambition of the Territory (2012).

Filippo De Pieri teaches Architectural History at the Politecnico di Torino. His research covers the history of 19th and 20th-century cities, with a special focus on the social histories of housing and planning and on the intersections between scholarly research and public narratives. His publications include: Il controllo improbabile. Progetti urbani, burocrazie, decisioni in una città capitale dell’Ottocento (Milan, 2005); Storie di case. Abitare l’Italia del boom (Rome, 2013, with B. Bonomo, G. Caramellino, F. Zanfi); Beijing Danwei: Industrial Heritage in the Contemporary City (Berlin, 2015, with M. Bonino); Porter le temps. Ville et mémoire dans un site Unesco (Genève, forthcoming, with F. Graezer Bideau).

Matthew Skjonsberg, the coordinator of the ETHZ Landscape and Urban Studies Doctoral Program, will act as guest discussant.

Conference Venue, Registration & Schedule
The conference will take place in a hybrid manner at the Project Room of Archizoom at EPFL (SG 294.22, click here for the location) on October 8th 2020, 17:30-19:45. The lectures by Declerck and De Pieri will take place on Zoom, from Brussels and Turin, whereas the audience will attend either in-situ, or on Zoom. The presentations will be followed by a collective debate.

For organizational purposes, all participants in-situ need to register in advance here, and have their names approved at the registration desk before the event.

For attending the conference on Zoom, click here, or use the meeting ID 854 6506 5009.
The event will end with a cocktail for EDAR Phd Students and Professors.

Protection Plan for COVID-19
The number of the participants in-situ are limited to 100, and the priority for participation will be given to EDAR PhD Students. There will be a registration at the entrance of the Project Room.
All the participants and the public at EPFL need to wear a mask during the conference and keep a distance at least of 1.5 meters in between.

SCHOLARS in Transition #2
We are pleased to announce that our next guest Lecturer will be the French anthropologist and historian of philosophy Frédéric Keck. His lecture at EPFL, December 15th, will develop some aspects of his recent book Les Sentinelles des pandémies. Chasseurs de virus et observateurs d’oiseaux aux frontières de la Chine (Brussels, 2020).