"The course studies the meaning of “urban” through lectures, discussions, assignments and individual or group projects exploring the concept of urban in the context of Otaniemi. Themes: what is urban, how can it be built? Urban in history, Finnish and Helsinki urban; urban everyday practices and life-forms; contemporary art and the urban. The last week of the course is dedicated to a series of experiments to urbanize Otaniemi through installations, performances, projections, events, works of art."
To put it simply: the idea is to study what is urban and what Otaniemi is, and momentarily make Otaniemi urban. The course is pretty intensive and has been allotted a lot of time, but it is meant to be mostly about doing, thinking, discussing things together.
Urban Otaniemi course program:
6.4. What is urban? What is the city? A lot of discussions, some lecturing and some assignments.
7.4. Walking Otaniemi. PHD student Anna Kholina will tell about her doctoral study and carry out experiments of seeing Otaniemi differently.
13.4. Looking at Otaniemi from the history perspective, lecture by historian of architecture Kristo Vesikansa. Imagining Otaniemi with Anna Kholina.
14.4. What is the metropolis? Lecture by Eetu Viren, discussions, experiments.
27.4. Literature seminar: going through a choice of texts - that you have read and present.
28.4. Plans for Urban Otaniemi
9. – 12.5.: Building the urban in Otaniemi
13.5. Urban Otaniemi Day.
In addition to the course itself, those students who are interested are invited to participate in the IDEAS CITY PORI in 3H+K Gallery in Pori, between 30.4.-19.5.2016., an exhibition by Anna Jensen and Eliisa Suvanto in collaboration with Pori Live project. Participants will have their travel and accommodation to Pori covered by Aalto’s PUPA-support.
During the exhibition the gallery space is filled not only by visual arts, but also by workshops, lectures and interventions. The aim of the exhibition is to explore and challenge our ideas of the city space and create an open laboratory where researchers, artists and students can contemplate their ideas share their knowledge. Urban Otaniemi students can present their work through documentation or organize an event in the gallery/ Pori.
