in Teaching

Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies: Victoria Summer Camp

As part of the research project Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies, a group of KISD students participates in a summer camp in the planned city of Victoria, Brașov in Romania.

Once planned as a construct of an ideal social order, urban spaces planned as ideal cities face the challenge of a constantly changing society. In the development of a utopian city, not only the production of space, infrastructure and industry are planned, but also the way in which people move in it.

In the planned city of Victoria in Romania, this summer school will deal with the interventions that make unfinished urban utopias possible. Who are the actors involved and what are their roles? Under what conditions do utopian urban structures emerge, when does a planned city function? How and by whom are they designed?

In an experimental way we try to rediscover the physical and social arrangements and materialities of this place. During a week-long summer camp we will explore the relationship between architecture, technology and utopia, environment and industry, between imaginary communities and their development (including migration), in order to evaluate possibilities for transforming these forgotten places. The project is conducted in collaboration with experts and students of KHM and other universities and will conclude with a collective exhibition in Cluj planned for autumn.

Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies is organized by Tincuta Heinzel with various international partners.

KISD participation is conducted in collaboration with Mara Siegel