Housing of Society

Description:

Housing of Society was a talk by German architect and theorist Andreas Rumpfhuber, presented as part of Urban Imagination: Art and Urban Development, and in conjunction with the exhibition The Vienna Model: Housing for the Twenty-First Century City at the Museum of Vancouver.

Rumpfhuber’s research-led practice focuses on expanding the social, political, and economic conditions of design and architecture. With an introduction by Sabine Bitter and Jeff Derksen, Rumpfhuber’s presentation addressed potential forms for housing in relation to an economy dominated by neo-liberal capitalism. His hour-long talk reflected on projects that aimed to renew the emancipatory and deeply political nature of housing policy in Vienna, Austria, and was followed by a conversation with Anthonia Ogundele and Western Front executive director Caitlin Jones.

Urgent Imagination: Art and Urban Development was a two-part project that proposed creative alternatives to developer-driven architecture and urban planning in Vancouver. The project generated events, artworks, conferences, and an online platform for critical inquiry into issues concerning urban development, planning, and critical theory.

Video documentation of this event is available upon request.