Summer studio program / Niš 16-27 July 2012

Summer studio Nis is a two week program being conducted by the City Change Collective, in association with GAF Nis and LEDIB Cluster House that will explore possibilities for reclamation of public space through urban design. Students of architecture, urbanism, landscape architecture and allied fields will, during the two week programme, get a chance to engage with contemporary challenges facing urban public space. Inputs from theory and practice from across the globe will help generate a proposal through a collaborative design approach for the center of Nis. The summer studio will go beyond the conventional lecture + design critique based model of architecture education.

The main goal of the studio is to explore the possibility for finding potential synergies among various interests involved in the design and planning process. The natural resources, local culture, social and political dynamics, infrastructural demands and economical power relationships influencing public space will be investigated. Course content will enable the students to adopt a critical and reflective perspective towards current urban design paradigms, in order to develop an in-depth and interdisciplinary approach toward a more meaningful urban design for the future.

After having completed the course, participants will be able to:

• understand the complex and multi-layered fabric of the contemporary city and the system of forces that continuously reconfigure it
• develop and use new tools for analyzing and reflecting upon the interplay of economic, social, political and cultural forces shaping urban public space
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the role of urban design in the long-term development of cities towards a sustainable society
• understand and use urban design as a distinct practice to improve public space and in turn contribute to urban sustainability

Summer Studio Teaching Team