The City in Transformation Urban Symposium Bergen

Oct 12-16, 2020

Christof Mayer /raumlabor and BERGEN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE in collaboration with BERGEN KOMMUNE and 3RD YEAR URBAN RESEARCH AND DESIGN STUDIO

Cities are known to change and adapt over time. Consequently, if we view the city as a continuous process of transformation, a central question becomes what are the driving forces and structures behind this process? On the one hand there are unplanned or unintentional influences such as natural disasters or epidemics that have brought about change. On the other hand, however, urban change has been propagated through planned and intentional processes by human society. Additionally given that cities evolve over time and often collectively, how does one engage with things beyond the short term and beyond the individual in looking at the future of the city.

With this frame of mind, the third year urban design and research studio is engaging with the current redevelopment of the industrial waterfront in Laksevåg, Bergen. To gain a better understanding of the various structures and agendas engaged in this process, we wish to meet with various actors explicitly and implicitly involved in this transformation e.g. planning authorities, landowners, developers, local activists, politicians, residents and other stakeholders. Further on, students will look to negotiate these various positions and conditions into urban proposals for the area. These proposals are to embody the notion of a generative process, of an incremental, collective and adaptable nature that put forth an idea for the future.

The symposium is organized by the 3rd Year Urban Research and Design Studio in collaboration with Bergen Kommune