BA (Hons) Urban Design

This year we begin a new programme, BA (Hons) Urban Design. Students on the programme will explore the speculative design of future cities and urbanisation, informed by site-focused research, within specific local, regional and global contexts. This new Urban Design programme will continue our exploration of ecological justice and urban equity begun on the Landscape Architecture programmes, from theoretical discourses to new forms of material constructions. The programme will bring together three distinct areas: Firstly, inventive design projects will be the focus of the programme, from future cities to historic urban precedent. Secondly, ecological justice and urban equity will be the priority for all projects, through collective, shared public spaces. Thirdly, the programme will address urban change across vast scales of space (planetary to material) and time (daily lives to generational struggles). The urban design programme will importantly consider cities and urbanization through the lens of landscape, considering challenges of temporality, change, growth and scale, and interacting with colleagues in landscape architecture to allow concerns for biodiversity loss, climate change and landscape citizenship to be addressed through the design of new urban environments. A unique aspect of the programme supports students to work on live projects through placements in London design practices and/or studio projects, working with clients and consultants. This opportunity will test the experimental projects developed in the university and build confident professional networks for the students. This new programme is developed from the success of the Future Cities Summer School and taught by an experienced team of staff experienced in the design of landscapes and cities.

COLLECTIVE LANDSCAPE FUTURES

ANUSHKA ATHIQUE

Speakers

Dilip Lakhani, Giacomo Guzzon, Iman Datoo, Sui Searle, Amund Hugin, Christina Geros, Ed Wall, Larry Botchway, Wattan Jawareesh, Alan Gillingwater, Henry Wilson, Indy Johar, Johanna Gibbons, Simon Goldsmith, Emma Colthurst, Malaika Cunningham, Oscar Berkeley, River Wittke, Sowmya Parthasarathy, Kris Cullum-Fernandez, Meaghan Kombol, Paul McGann, Torange Khonsari, River Witkke, Frances Reeves.

With thanks to

David Waterworth.

Collective Landscape Futures is a series of roundtable discussions with guests alongside students, graduates and tutors from Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Greenwich. This year the roundtables investigated the relationships between landscape practices and the interconnected issues of race, gender, extraction, and the economic/ environmental crises. The four roundtable discussions that took place each explored a particular issue as it relates to the future of designing landscapes and cities, and they explored the role of landscape and urban practitioners in collectively building fairer worlds. The conversations were recorded (audio only) and will be transcribed to form a series of Zine publications out in Autumn 2022.

Native Species: 23 February 2022

The histories of plants in our public spaces can perpetuate narratives of injustice, but can they also offer opportunities to reframe these perspectives?

Intersectional Landscapes: 9 March 2022

How can design practices challenge established power structures and create landscapes that foster empowerment, inclusion and solidarity?

Oikos=Eco=Our Home: 23 March 2022

A roundtable discussion examining the relationship between ecology and economy and ways of making and living in the world.

Citizenships: 27 April 2022

A roundtable discussion exploring practices and policies that can empower more diverse citizenships.

Collective Landscape Futures began in 2021 with guests including Julia Watson (author of Lo—TEK. Design by Radical Indigenism), Ben Campkin (Co-Director of the Urban Laboratory, UCL), Ross Exo-Adams (Co-director of Bard Architecture) and Martí Franch Batllori (EMF).