Making Sense of the (Post-)Socialist City

Disciplines

Other Humanities (40%); History, Archaeology (20%); Human Geography, Regional Geography, Regional Planning (20%); Sociology (20%)

Keywords

• Urban Sensescapes,
• Sensory Knowledge,
• Affective Heritage,
• (post-)socialist cities,
• Urban Materialities,
• Body Memory

Abstract

Every citys surface consists of many layers. Layers of the past coexist with material traces of the present inscribed on pavements, walls, trees, and railings. Together they are shaping the skin of a city. This project asks how to make sense of a place from its materiality and materials. The main aim of the project is to fuse the material history of selected cities skins with the sensory knowledge and embodied memory of their citizens. Focusing on European cities under socialism and their post-1989 versions in Europe the project is laid out as a history of experience with an emphasis on sensory, tactile encounters to feel out cultural, social, economic transformations from the 1980s to the present. By exploring the tangible heritage of selected cities the materials, textures, fabrics and tactility of their skin the project seeks to uncover the sensory experiences, vernacular knowledge and thus the intangible (emotional) heritage of East Central Europe under transformation.