"...This city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand, written in the coursers of the streets, the gratings of the windows, the banisters of the steps, the antennae of the lightening rods, the poles of the flags, every segment marked in turn with scratches, indentations, scrolls..."
in. Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
"...If we look at the contemporary form of urban landscapes, we can see how different cities – with their own history, with their own culture, with different population and extension and in different parts of the world – are experiencing similar transformations driving them into a kind of a common and standard landscape..."
in. Francesc Muñoz, Urbanalización
Globalization has been a process that has affected every aspects of human life (at least...) during the last century. As a consequence of that process, some already called our planet as a planet city, others, like Salman Rushdie, presented the idea of a Mac World.
Globalization is a reality that changed our way of living (forever?), making us to get used (and dependent?) of standards and brands (...by the way, this text was written on a iPad...).
So, we beleive that we became globalized citizens of a Mac World, where more than 80% of its population is now living in (big) cities. First, we became urbanized, now we became globalized. And so did our cities...
Therefore, can we still talk about the poetry of Calvino´s Invisible Cities? Can we still find (or miss) the city past on the streets where we walkabout? Can we still discover on each city we visit, its desires, its fears, its anxieties, its identity? Do all cities look like the same? Or... are we simply getting used to a standard way of living that makes us to look for the same things wherever we go, so we can feel comfortable and safe... like home?
How do architects and city planners deal with globalization? Are we changing the way we think our cities? Are we planning them differently? And, are they becoming different, although man try to make them to look like the same?
In this seminar we will discuss the urban fabric and the globalization effects on city identity.
(V.P. 2011)
