Fri
13
Nov
Seminars and Conferences
Cosmologies #06 READING LAB - Infrastructure-led Urbanization
The Cosmologies series, marking the 10th anniversary of the China Room research group, continues with its sixth event, "READING LAB - Infrastructure-led Urbanization".
This session will take the form of a roundtable on Infrastructure-Led Urbanization, moderated by Sofia Leoni (DIST) and introduced by Leonardo Ramondetti (DIST), using two selected articles as starting points for collective reflection, open debate, and critical exchange among PhD researchers and scholars.
Abstract
Infrastructures have become central to understanding contemporary urbanization, challenging their conventional definition as technical systems that support the functioning of cities. From transport corridors and logistics networks to energy systems and digital infrastructures, these material arrangements not only facilitate connectivity but also shape the social, political, and ecological relations through which cities and territories are produced. By reorganizing territorial relations, influencing the distribution of resources, and transforming everyday environments, infrastructures actively participate in the production of urban space. Their entanglement with water, soil, vegetation, and other forms of life further challenges established distinctions between built and natural environments, opening up broader questions about the spatial and ecological dimensions of urbanization. As infrastructure increasingly becomes a lens through which to interpret these processes, however, its conceptual expansion also raises questions about its analytical specificity. This roundtable takes this tension as its central point of discussion, exploring what becomes visible when infrastructure is understood not only as a material condition of urbanization, but also as a conceptual and methodological framework for urban and architectural research.
Reading labs are conceived as experimental spaces for collective reflection, open debate and critical exchange among PhD researchers and scholars.
The Reading Lab will be held in English and will be available online at the following link.
The event is open and free. To participate and receive the materials, please write to the contact email. Further details can be found in the attached poster and at this link.
This session will take the form of a roundtable on Infrastructure-Led Urbanization, moderated by Sofia Leoni (DIST) and introduced by Leonardo Ramondetti (DIST), using two selected articles as starting points for collective reflection, open debate, and critical exchange among PhD researchers and scholars.
Abstract
Infrastructures have become central to understanding contemporary urbanization, challenging their conventional definition as technical systems that support the functioning of cities. From transport corridors and logistics networks to energy systems and digital infrastructures, these material arrangements not only facilitate connectivity but also shape the social, political, and ecological relations through which cities and territories are produced. By reorganizing territorial relations, influencing the distribution of resources, and transforming everyday environments, infrastructures actively participate in the production of urban space. Their entanglement with water, soil, vegetation, and other forms of life further challenges established distinctions between built and natural environments, opening up broader questions about the spatial and ecological dimensions of urbanization. As infrastructure increasingly becomes a lens through which to interpret these processes, however, its conceptual expansion also raises questions about its analytical specificity. This roundtable takes this tension as its central point of discussion, exploring what becomes visible when infrastructure is understood not only as a material condition of urbanization, but also as a conceptual and methodological framework for urban and architectural research.
Reading labs are conceived as experimental spaces for collective reflection, open debate and critical exchange among PhD researchers and scholars.
The Reading Lab will be held in English and will be available online at the following link.
The event is open and free. To participate and receive the materials, please write to the contact email. Further details can be found in the attached poster and at this link.