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SoSe 21: Places and non-places: The hypermodernism of Berlin

Gregor Wolfgang Hens

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Topic: Towards the end of postmodernism – and at the dawn of the "internet age" – thinkers such as Michel de Certeau and Marc Augé developed a conceptual model to describe the rather vague feeling of arbitrariness and interchangeability of space they experienced in modern cities, the idea that the few remaining identifiable "places" in our contemporary urban environments were mere remnants of earlier, culturally inscribed sites, re-manufactured for commercial (touristic) purposes. The vast remaining areas of the city were "non-places" and urban "filaments" that did not provide a sense of belonging. This freed city dwellers to (artistically or otherwise) misappropriate or re-inscribe objects of the urban fabric. In the early 1990s, the term hypermodernism (or supermodernism) was introduced to provide a framework for these observations in fields ranging from philosophy to anthropology and architecture. Program: We will consider this concept and its more recent iterations with respect to new and planned buildings in Berlin (by international firms such as OMA and Herzog & de Meuron), to places of infrastructure (train stations, airports), shopping centers, so-called POPS (privately owned public spaces) and urban wilderness areas. Course participants will be encouraged to explore the city on their own and "respond" to particular sites through visuals, audio recordings, (creative) texts and other forms of artistic expression. Can I take this course? Yes, if you are interested in urbanism, architecture and related fields; eager to explore the city on your own; open to (artistic) experimentation. The course has no further prerequisites. Requirements and Grading: In order to earn 5 ECTS-points, you will need to read (carefully and with a dictionary) approximately ten pages a week; attend at least 80% of course meetings; actively participate in course and group discussions; prepare two to three short (5 min.) presentations; and pass a written final examination. close