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Designing for a Commons Transition

Symposium, Thursday 19 - Saturday 21 September,
Carnegie Mellon University,
5000 Forbes Avenue PIttsburgh United States
 

Against the backdrop of the escalating climate crisis, social inequity and political polarization, the growing realization that neither the government nor the market can enable even access to resources and opportunities is leading citizens the world over to take matters into their own hands, self-organizing by pooling resources and claiming their collective right to the city. The creative insights emerging from these practices of commoning offer an entry point for refuting the neoliberal mantra “there is no alternative,” and spurring the imagination of another possible world. What impact can commoning have on the bottom-up transformation of cities? And what agency do designers have in contributing to such commons transition?

The symposium at Carnegie Mellon University brings together diverse perspectives exploring the role and responsibility of architecture and urban design in the struggle for more pluralistic, radically democratic and just cities. At a time of Pittsburgh’s renewed growth, the commons perspective urges us to revisit the city's community design legacy, and explore how it might be reinvigorated in the face of rising inequity. The event accompanies the international premier of the ifa-exhibition An Atlas of Commoning in collaboration with ARCH+ and the CMU School of Architecture on display at the Miller ICA.

Speakers include Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman, Renée Tribble, Kristin Hughes and Mary-Lou Arscott, Tobias Armborst, Antje Steinmuller, Karen Abrams, Anne-Marie Lubenau, Terri Baltimore, Stefani Danes and Christina Howell. Organized and curated by Stefan Gruber and Jonathan Kline.


PROGRAM

Thursday, September 19 | Kresge Theater, CMU College of Fine Arts

18:30 Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman: Unwalling Citizenship

Sylvia and David Steiner Lecture Series in Creative Inquiry in collaboration with the CMU School of Architecture lecture series

Friday, September 20 | CMU College of Fine Arts, Room 214

9:00 Welcome and Introductions

9:20 Renée Tribble, Planbude Hamburg
9:50 Kristin Hughes & Mary-Lou Arscott, Latham Street Commons
10:20 Tobias Armborst, Interboro Brooklyn

10:50 Coffee Break

11:10 Antje Steinmuller, CCA Urban Works Agency, San Francisco
11:50 Karen Abrams, The Heinz Endowments
12:20 Discussion on the role and agency of design in commoning the city with Tobias Armborst, Renée Tribble, Kristin Hughes & Mary-Lou Arscott, Antje Steinmuller and Karen Abrams facilitated by Stefan Gruber

13:00 Lunch Break

14:00 Mathias Heyden, ISPARA Berlin
14:45 Anne-Marie Lubenau, Bruner Foundation Cambridge
15:15-16:30 Panel discussion on the past and possible future of community design in Pittsburgh with Terri Baltimore, Stefani Danes, Christina Howell, Anne-Marie Lubenau and Mathias Heyden facilitated by Jonathan Kline

Saturday, September 21 | Miller ICA

11:00-12:30 Curator and Artist’s Tour of An Atlas of Commoning at Miller ICA

12:30-3:30 Bus Tour to Food Co-op (with option to buy lunch), Construction Junction, Center for Creative Reuse, and Community Forge. Tours and discussions with Francis Carter and Kate Safin, Mike Gable, Patrick Cooper.

Please RSVP for the bus tour as seats are limited. Students are strongly encouraged to attend.

This event is made possible through the generous support the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry and the Sylvia and David Steiner Lecture Series, the Carnegie Mellon University and ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen).