We write to inform you about “Mapping Visaginas: An International Summer School on Sources of Urbanity in Post-Industrial Cities” that we are organising in Visaginas, the satellite town of a former nuclear power plant in north-eastern Lithuania, from 20 Sept – 3 Oct 2015 within the frame of the DAAD Go East Programme.
CfP Sources of Urbanity _ Mapping Visaginas final-1
The town of Visaginas in the beautiful, sparsely populated lake region close to the border with Latvia and Belarus is both an outstanding example of Soviet modernist urban planning, constructed in the 1970s to house the elite workers of the nearby nuclear power plant, and of the problems encountered when the conditions for which the town was constructed cease to exist. Our aim at the summer school is thus to explore the town from a variety of perspectives, and to work in international, multi-disciplinary groups in collaboration with inhabitants to develop propositions for what in the future could act as sources of urbanity for this town.
The summer school will be comprised of a mix of lectures and seminars, discussions with locals and small group field work and project design on one of the four themes set out in the attached project description. During the school, each group will map the conditions causing the theme they are working on and, on this basis, design a scenario of how this theme could be addressed through a soft-planning intervention or community project. These ideas will be presented at the end of the school, and thereafter published as part of a book recording the school’s work.
The school provides accommodation and breakfasts and dinners in Visaginas, study materials, a variety of extra-curricular activities and a weekend trip to Vilnius. We welcome applications from students of a range of disciplines, from history of technology to the social sciences, humanities, architecture and design. The common working languages will be English and Russian, and some knowledge of Lithuanian, Polish or Belarusian would also be helpful. Applications should be made to urbanism@ehu.lt, and in the case of German students applying for a scholarship also to DAAD directly, by 31st May.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to be in touch.
—
Dr. Anna Veronika Wendland
Direktion
Herder-Institut für historische
Ostmitteleuropaforschung –
Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
Gisonenweg 5-7
35037 Marburg
Tel: +49 6421 184-101, -121
Fax: +49 6421 184-194
www.herder-institut.de
www.facebook.com/HerderInstitu
