Public Evening Lecture: Living in High-Rises Reflects Social Transformation
A public evening lecture hosted by Prof. Ute Lehrer at 6:15 pm on 7 May 2026 will examine global trends in the 21st century’s dominant form of housing – high-rise living – using the example of Toronto, Canada. The lecture is being held as part of the conference organised by the Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) »Gewohnter Wandel« research training group and the Institute for European Urban Studies at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
The conference, titled »Weiter wohnen wie gewohnt«, will address current housing challenges, balancing its status as a basic human need with the reality of market-driven development. The housing transformation will be investigated within the context of social change, as well as architectural and material design, which will be examined from an interdisciplinary research perspective and from a practical standpoint.
Prof. Ute Lehrer is a professor at the Faculty of Urban and Environmental Change at York University in Toronto. She holds degrees from the Universität Zürich and the University of California, Los Angeles, in urban planning, art and architectural history, sociology, and economic and social history. Her lecture traces the development of the high-rise residential building – from architectural innovation in the 19th century, to its role as a modernist model and, at the same time, a stigmatised form of housing in the 20th century, to its current global ubiquity. What’s clear is that the significance of this type of building is constantly evolving depending on the lifestyles associated with it, how it is portrayed in the media, and how it is used economically in both urban and rural areas.
Expanding on the theme of the conference, the lecture looks at the high-rise from a critical and comparative perspective as a reflection of broader societal and political discourses on the recurring housing issue.
Living in High-Rises Reflects Social Transformation
High-Rise Living: From whom? And why?
Lecture held in English by Prof. Ute Lehrer, Toronto
Thursday, 7 May 2026, 6:15 pm
The lecture will be held in English.
Registration is not required; admission is free of charge.
The event can also be accessed digitally via https://gewohnter-wandel.de/veranstaltungen
Further information on the conference: www.uni-weimar.de/ifeu/wohnenimwandel
Further information on the project: https://gewohnter-wandel.de/
Questions can be directed to Dr. Kathrin Meißner, Research Coordinator/ Office of the DFG »Gewohnter Wandel« research training group at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, by e-mail at: kathrin.meissner@uni-weimar.de or by phone at: +49 (0) 3643 / 58 2670.