Teaching

Summer semester 2024

the city maintained
In this seminar we approach the city through the perspective of everyday practices of maintenance and care. For a long time, the attention of the public, journalists, scholars and policymakers has focused on concepts related to urban change, development, innovation, and the replacement of existing structures by new ones. However, urban life crucially rests on processes of maintaining existing material and immaterial structures, repairing and caring for them. Only recently and against the background of several unfolding crises has critical engagement problematizing the disregard, invisibility and underpayment of these aspects gained momentum. This seminar will pay close attention to urban maintenance in relation to different aspects of urban life, exploring the manifold agents, practices, institutions and dimensions involved in this process. How are cities maintained and by whom? How do urban communities contribute to the social maintenance of urban life? What is the role of bureaucracy in maintaining urban order and institutions? How do non-human agencies contribute to maintaining cities? And how is the invisibility of everyday maintenance related to urban equality? During the seminar participants will acquire profound knowledge on different aspects related to urban maintenance with a particular focus on everyday practices as well as on materiality and infrastructures and get to know innovative theoretical positions and conceptual approaches for scholarly engagement in this field. Besides joint readings, presentations and discussions, students will also gain first-hand experience in exploring different assemblages of maintenance within the city of Weimar.

unsettling european urbanism
Genauso unterschiedlich und vielfältig wie die Bezugnahmen auf die »europäische Stadt« sind auch die Versuche ihrer Definition und Konzeptualisierung. Und dennoch, im Kern liegt den meisten Begriffsverwendungen ein Verständnis zugrunde, das von der Überlegenheit eines bestimmten Stadttyps, einer bestimmten Organisationsform gesellschaftlichen Zusammenlebens ausgeht, nämlich dem der »europäische Stadt«. Zur Herausbildung der »europäische Urbanistik« haben diese Verständnisse maßgeblich beigetragen. Dies gilt auch für das Institut für Europäische Urbanistik an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Bei der Gründung des Instituts vor 20 Jahren dienten die »europäische Stadt« und die »europäische Urbanistik« als dezidiert positive Bezugspunkte. Zwar ist Kritik am Konzept der »europäischen Stadt« durchaus nichts Neues, allerdings hat diese in den letzten Jahren durch das Zusammenwirken unterschiedlicher Kritikstränge (postkolonialer, feministischer, postsozialistischer, ökologischer, politökonomischer u.a.) eine neue Dynamik erfahren. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich die Frage, ob man sich heute überhaupt noch in einem produktiven und/oder positiven Sinne auf die »europäische Stadt« und die »europäische Urbanistik« beziehen kann? Falls ja, wie könnte eine solche Bezugnahme aussehen? Was wäre gegebenenfalls unter »europäischer Stadt« und unter »europäischer Urbanistik« zu verstehen? Was wären die Inhalte, aber auch die Voraussetzungen einer solchen Neubesetzung?

Im Seminar wollen wir das 20-jährige Bestehen des IfEU zum Anlass nehmen, um gemeinsam über diese Fragen nachzudenken und dadurch zur Selbstverständigung und zur Zukunft des Instituts beizutragen. Das Seminar besteht zum einen aus einer Reihe von Podiumsdiskussionen, Gastvorträgen und Workshops, in denen Expert*innen und Studierende aus Weimar mit externen Gästen ins Gespräch kommen (in Kooperation mit dem Seminar "Aktuelle Fragen der Stadt- und Regionalplanung" von Prof. Huning). Vorbereitet, gerahmt und begleitet werden diese Veranstaltungen durch Diskussionsabende im Sinne eines Lektüreseminars, in denen wir Schlüsseltexte zur Herausbildung, zu Verständnissen und zu Kritiken des Konzeptes der europäischen Stadt und der europäischen Urbanistik besprechen.

Termine
Do 04.04.2024            18.45-20.15 Uhr         IfEU, Raum 005
Do 11.04.2024            13.30-15.00 Uhr         OLS
Do 18.04.2024            18.45-20.15 Uhr         IfEU, Raum 005
Do 02.05.2024            18.45-20.15 Uhr         IfEU, Raum 005
Do 16.05.2024            18.45-20.15 Uhr         IfEU, Raum 005
Do 30.05.2024            19.00-20.30 Uhr         OLS
Fr 31.05.2024             11.00-15.00 Uhr         OLS
Do 06.06.2024            18.45-20.15 Uhr         IfEU, Raum 005
Do 20.06.2024            18.45-20.15 Uhr         IfEU, Raum 005
Do 27.06.2024            19.00-20.30 Uhr         OLS
Fr 28.06.2024             11.00-15.00 Uhr         OLS
Do 04.07.2024            18.45-20.15 Uhr         IfEU, Raum 005

Winter semester 2023/24

Lecture "European Cities"
What is the ”European City”? How did cities in Europe develop historically? And what are trends and challenges that characterize contemporary European urban development? By engaging with these questions, the lecture provides basic and interdisciplinary knowledge on European urban development. It discusses central concepts related to the ”European City”, provides an overview of foundational research, and explores new strands in urban studies. It illustrates these developments with case studies from different European cities. In the first part, the lecture reflects on the history of urban development and the material and immaterial urban heritage in European cities, and engages with the analytical and normative dimensions of the ”European City”. In the second part, it confronts the conceptual and theoretical concepts with current socio-spatial, economic and political developments in different European cities, such as neoliberal urbanism, processes of postsocialist urban transformation or the construction of heritage.

Seminar "Introduction to European Cities"
Introduction to European Cities is a reading seminar that is closely linked to the lecture European Cities I. It provides comprehensive knowledge of European city development and introduces students to key texts in urban studies. The seminar systematically deepens the topics introduced in the lecture. We will read selected texts, critically reflect upon them, and use them as the basis for group works and discussions. Doing so we will familiarize ourselves with relevant current and historical positions and research on European cities. Topics to be discussed include the European city as analytical and normative concept, neoliberal urbanism, postsocialist urban transformation, material and immaterial urban heritage.

Summer semester 2023

Housing: An Archive
Housing as a unit of material and architectural production is inseparably connected to the socio-political systems that engender it, but it is also shaped through personal interactions. Taking as the point of departure concrete housing objects, this seminar will explore the embeddedness of their materiality in societal processes of sense- and meaning-making. The concept of the archive will be mobilized in order to uncover the multifaceted socio-cultural practices of home-making that these objects as material artifacts entail and enable. In doing so the seminar seeks to draw connections between the personal and the political, between housing as a container and transmitter of personal memory and ordinary life and as an artifact of certain social imaginations and politics. Within the seminar, students will get to know and critically discuss different scholarly perspectives and positions on how to conceptualize the role of materiality in urban and housing studies, such as, for example, social constructivist approaches, affect theory, or ANT. Students will also be provided with the opportunity for multimodal anthropological engagement with selected housing objects.

Winter semester 2022/23

European Cities 
What is the ”European City”? How did cities in Europe develop historically? And what are trends and challenges that characterize contemporary European urban development?

By engaging with these questions, the lecture provides basic and interdisciplinary knowledge on European urban development. It discusses central concepts related to the ”European City”, provides an overview of foundational research, and explores new strands in urban studies. It illustrates these developments with case studies from different European cities. In the first part, the lecture reflects on the history of urban development and the material and immaterial urban heritage in European cities, and engages with the analytical and normative dimensions of the ”European City”. In the second part, it confronts the conceptual and theoretical concepts with current socio-spatial, economic and political developments in different European cities, such as neoliberal urbanism, processes of postsocialist urban transformation or the construction of heritage.

Introduction to European Cities
Introduction to European Cities is a reading seminar that is closely linked to the lecture European Cities I. It provides comprehensive knowledge of European city development and introduces students to key texts in urban studies. The seminar systematically deepens the topics introduced in the lecture. We will read selected texts, critically reflect upon them, and use them as the basis for group works and discussions. Doing so we will familiarize ourselves with relevant current and historical positions and research on European cities. Topics to be discussed include the European city as analytical and normative concept, neoliberal urbanism, postsocialist urban transformation, material and immaterial urban heritage.

Summer semester 2022

Study Project "Postsocialist Weimar"
This research-oriented study project engages with the socialist legacies and postsocialist urban transformations in Weimar. Through a collaborative mapping of the Waldstadt in Weimar Schöndorf it aims to gain a deeper understanding of the logics, effects, and lived experiences of postsocialist transformation in Eastern Germany. Constructed shortly before the German reunification at the northern fringe of the city, the Waldstadt reflects the shifting dynamics from being a showcase of late socialist housing production to becoming a laboratory of postsocialist capitalist transformation. As cartographic representations are an important part of how we make sense of the world, we will approach the Waldstadt through deep mapping, understanding maps not merely as instruments of capturing reality, but of co-producing reality, as structuring society’s perceptions, imaginations, and knowledge. From this perspective, we seek to understand the Waldstadt’s role within Weimar: how is the city of Weimar presented in official and public accounts, and what role does the Waldstadt as socialist heritage play within these depictions? Has this relation changed during the postsocialist period? The project then aims to challenge dominant perceptions and mappings of the Waldstadt through in-depth fieldwork and by actively involving local residents. Focussing on the profound ruptures that shaped the everyday living experiences in the Waldstadt since the 1990s, it aims to produce a multifaceted and multi-layered map of this place, thereby opening up new perspectives on Weimar and its postsocialist transformation. During the study project, students will acquire in-depth knowledge on the dynamics and effects of profound urban transformations and learn about approaches and tools to study them; they will get to know mapping as a research method and carry out an individual/group mapping project. Most of the time will be devoted to conducting research in the field.

Seminar "Authoritarian Urbanism"
The last decades have been marked by rising authoritarian tendencies globally and within Europe. These trends had tremendous effects on cities, urban space production and urban life. While cities frequently turn into sites of resistance and landing grounds for strong pro-democracy movements, urban space production also serves as a crucial regime-sustaining mechanism for authoritarian leaders. This seminar invites students to engage with the tensions arising from these processes. Based on contemporary examples of authoritarian urbanism from around the globe we will focus on the following questions: How is authoritarianism performed and perceived in urban space production and how does it shape state-society relations? Which policies and instruments are characteristic of authoritarian urbanism and what are their effects on the local level? Which possibilities and forms of resistance can be observed? What are the barriers and threats that pro-democracy movements and urban activists face in authoritarian settings? During the seminar students will acquire profound knowledge on the interplay of power, politics and city-making. They will get to know innovative theoretical positions, conceptual approaches and methodologies for scholarly engagement into the field of authoritarian urbanism. Based on joint readings, presentations and group discussions we will explore a variety of examples from different contexts such as, for example, forced evictions, land grabbing, infrastructure and housing provision or securitization.

Winter semester 2021/22

Lecture "European Cities"
What is the “European City”? How did cities in Europe develop historically? And what are trends and challenges that characterize contemporary European urban development? By engaging with these questions, the lecture provides basic and interdisciplinary knowledge on European urban development. It discusses central concepts related to the “European City”, provides an overview of foundational research, and explores new strands in urban studies. It illustrates these developments with case studies from different European cities. In the first part, the lecture reflects on the history of urban development and the material and immaterial urban heritage in European cities, and engages with the analytical and normative dimensions of the “European City”. In the second part, it confronts the conceptual and theoretical concepts with current socio-spatial, economic and political developments in different European cities, such as neoliberal urbanism, processes of postsocialist urban transformation or the construction of heritage.

Seminar "Introduction to European Cities"
“Introduction to European Cities” is a reading seminar that is closely linked to the lecture “European Cities”. It provides comprehensive knowledge of European city development and introduces students to key texts in urban studies. The seminar systematically deepens the topics introduced in the lecture. We will read selected texts, critically reflect upon them, and use them as the basis for group works and discussions. Doing so we will familiarize ourselves with relevant current and historical positions and research on European cities. Topics to be discussed include the European city as analytical and normative concept, neoliberal urbanism, postsocialist urban transformation, material and immaterial urban heritage. The seminar is held every two weeks.

Summer semester 2021

Seminar „Housing, crises, and catastrophes“
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, the global financial crisis, the refugee crisis, natural catastrophes, the care crisis and the current pandemic – these and other events had and have tremendous effects on housing. This seminar invites students to engage with the field of housing from the perspective of crises and catastrophes: What did the above-mentioned events entail and which effects did they have on different dimensions and aspects of housing, such as the everyday practices of habitation, the built environments, housing provision and housing policies, the dwellers and the providers of housing, and the housing market? Through the lens of crises and catastrophes students will acquire profound knowledge on different aspects related to housing as well as on innovative theoretical positions and conceptual approaches for scholarly engagement into this field. Based on an engagement with joint readings/material, discussions as well as on presentations on selected topics we will explore how people and policy makers reacted to them and learn about coping mechanisms, adaption strategies and unexpected positive outcomes.

„Stadt-Gespräche“
Die Weimarer Stadt-Gespräche sind eine Veranstaltungsreihe des Instituts für Europäische Urbanistik der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in Kooperation mit der Stadt Weimar. Im Rahmen der Stadt-Gespräche werden aktuelle stadt- und regionalrelevante Themen und Herausforderungen mit geladenen Expert*innen universitäts- und stadtöffentlich diskutiert. Die Gespräche richten sich an die im weitesten Sinne an Stadtentwicklung und Planung interessierte Öffentlichkeit und sollen den Austausch zwischen den verschiedenen Fakultäten und Disziplinen der Hochschule sowie der Stadt fördern. Anhand von Vorträgen, Diskussionen und Podiumsgesprächen widmen wir uns im Sommersemester 2021 folgenden Fragen und diskutieren diese in Bezug auf die Stadt Weimar und ihre Region: Wie kann eine stärker am Gemeinwohl orientierte Stadt- und Siedlungsentwicklung aussehen und umgesetzt werden und welche Rolle kommt Kommunen dabei zu? Welchen Herausforderungen sieht sich die Wohnraumversorgung zwischen Bestandsentwicklung, Nachverdichtung und Neubau gegenüber und wie können sozial und ökologisch nachhaltige Formen der Wohnflächenentwicklung gefunden werden? Wie wirken sich Digitalisierung und Pandemie auf die Entwicklung des Einzelhandels in Innenstädten aus, und welche neuen, zukunftsfähigen Konzepte werden derzeit entwickelt und erprobt?

Die Stadt-Gespräche werden gemeinsam mit Prof. Barbara Schönig (Professur Stadtplanung) durchgeführt und im Sommersemester 2021 durch die Bauhaus.Module gefördert.

Seminar „Neue Zentralität in der perforierten Stadt - Eisenhüttenstadt 2021-2051“
Stadt des sozialistischen Klassizismus, Stadt der Moderne, Stadt des industriellen Wohnungsbaus. Wie kaum eine andere Stadtanlage der DDR steht Eisenhüttenstadt für den Wandel der städtebaulichen Leitbilder seit den 1950er Jahren. In der ab 1950 für das hier angesiedelte Eisenhüttenkombinat errichteten Planstadt lassen sich neben den stadtplanerischen Figuren und dem einstigen Zukunftsversprechen der sozialistischen Aufbaustädte an besonders wichtigen Industriestandorten auch deren Transformationsprozesse ab 1990 beleuchten. Aus dem Gegensatz zwischen einem zentralistisch geplanten Aufbau der Stadtanlage in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts und einem eher ungeplanten Rück- und Umbau heute, der sich u.a. in Flächenabriss von Wohngebieten, Nutzungsverfall von Industrieanlagen, Neubau von Einkaufzentren vor der Stadt als neue ‚zentrale‘ Orte und einer damit einhergehenden Schwächung der Innenstadt ausdrückt, resultiert die Wahrnehmung einer „perforierten Stadt”, deren weitere Entwicklung Fragen aufwirft. Dabei steht ein anerkanntes bauliches Erbe der Anfangsjahre der Stadt in den 1950er Jahren einem problematischen Verhältnis zur jüngeren Architekturgeschichte der Wohnkomplexe gegenüber. Wie lässt sich aus dieser Ausgangslage der Bestand bewerten und aus dem Bild der perforierten Stadt eine positive Umdeutung entwickeln?

Im Seminar untersuchen wir die Stadtanlage und ihre heutige Transformation und entwickeln Szenarien für eine zukünftige Entwicklung. Wir interessieren uns dabei vor allem für die Frage, welche neuartigen, räumlich dispersen Formen von Zentralität diese Transformationsprozesse hervorgebracht haben und wie diese zu Ausgangspunkten eines Umdenkens, einer positiven Werteverschiebung und einer zukunftsfähigen Weiterentwicklung werden können. Damit sind Studierende aufgefordert, gängige Konzepte von Urbanität und Zentralität zu hinterfragen und alternative Vorstellungen zu entwickeln.

Das Seminar nimmt damit nicht nur eine historisch bewertende Position ein, sondern möchte als Blick voraus auch einen Gegenentwurf zur Lethargie und Melancholie der schrumpfenden Stadtinszenieren. Dabei sind kurzfristige Aktionspläne ebenso denkbar wie langfristige Entwicklungsstrategien, die Szenarien offen: Überlegungen zur geordneten Schrumpfung sind genauso vorstellbar wie ein schrittweises Wachstum.  Das Seminar findet in Kooperation und mit Unterstützung des Dokumentationszentrum Alltagskultur der DDR in Eisenhüttenstadt im Rahmenprogramm der Jahresausstellung „Ohne Ende Anfang. Zur Transformation der sozialistischen Stadt” zum 70-jährigen Stadtjubiläum statt. Zum Abschluss des Seminars ist ein Beitrag in Form einer Ausstellung, Konferenz o.ä. vor Ort vorgesehen.

Das Seminar wird gemeinsam mit Prof. Andreas Garkisch (Professur Entwerfen und StadtArchitektur) und Kirsten Angermann (Professur Denkmalpflege und Baugeschichte) durchgeführt.

Winter semester 2020/2021

Lecture "European Cities"
What is the “European City”? How did cities in Europe develop historically? And what are trends and challenges that characterize contemporary European urban development? By engaging with these questions, the lecture provides basic and interdisciplinary knowledge on European urban development. It discusses central concepts related to the “European City”, provides an overview of foundational research, and explores new strands in urban studies. It illustrates these developments with case studies from different European cities. In the first part, the lecture reflects on the history of urban development and the material and immaterial urban heritage in European cities, and engages with the analytical and normative dimensions of the “European City”. In the second part, it confronts the conceptual and theoretical concepts with current socio-spatial, economic and political developments in different European cities, such as neoliberal urbanism, processes of postsocialist urban transformation or the construction of heritage.

Seminar "Introduction to European Cities"
“Introduction to European Cities” is a reading seminar that is closely linked to the lecture “European Cities”. It provides comprehensive knowledge of European city development and introduces students to key texts in urban studies. The seminar systematically deepens the topics introduced in the lecture. We will read selected texts, critically reflect upon them, and use them as the basis for group works and discussions. Doing so we will familiarize ourselves with relevant current and historical positions and research on European cities. Topics to be discussed include the European city as analytical and normative concept, neoliberal urbanism, postsocialist urban transformation, material and immaterial urban heritage. The seminar is held every two weeks.

Bauhaus-Module: Seminar "Contested Modernism"
Galyna Sukhomud (mentor: Jun.-Prof. Daniela Zupan)
Joining the worldwide discussion on the meaning and continuity of post-socialist transformations more than 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this seminar explores the vulnerable state of modernist heritage in former socialist countries confronted with national memory politics and market forces. At the same time, the seminar seeks to transgress colonial interpretations of “Eastern Europe” and aims to discover empowering artistic practices and strong cultural actors of the region who seek to oppose the disappearance of modernist heritage. By doing so the seminar seeks to examine the negotiation of heritage as a per se multidisciplinary endeavor and invites students of different disciplines to search for, and to develop new ways of cooperation to secure the future of architectural icons. The seminar will be held online. It will comprise individual and group work as well as input talks from researchers, artists, and activists who are critically engaged in rethinking modernist heritage within the post-socialist context. Please also register for the seminar in Moodle. If you have any questions, please contact Galyna Sukhomud via galyna.sukhomud[at]uni-weimar.de

Summer semester 2020

Seminar "Urban Conflicts"
This seminar invites students to delve into the socio-political and economic processes and power arrangements that shape contemporary city-making. We will do so by focussing on conflicts around urban (re-)development projects in different European cities (and beyond). Urban conflicts are promising entry points to engage with topical trends and challenges in contemporary cities, such as the crisis of democracy and neoliberal city-making, urban identities or urban heritage. Based on mandatory common readings we will explore theoretical positions and conceptual approaches to study urban conflicts from different perspectives. Doing so we will shed light, amongst other, on the key actors from different scales and domains as they pursue their distinct, often contradictory interests, on the unequal power relations involved as well as on the effects of these power struggles and their (un-)intended outcomes. During the seminar the students will also apply the acquired theoretical-analytical tools for analysing selected urban conflicts. In so doing they can experiment with and test the approaches in research practice. By discussing conflicts from different European and non-European contexts we will seek to identify common trends, similarities and differences in contemporary urban development.

Seminar "Contested Modernism: Participatory Artistic Initiatives and the Future of Architectural Heritage in Eastern Europe" - Bauhausmodul (postponed to the winter term 20/21)
Galyna Sukhomud (mentor: Jun.-Prof. Daniela Zupan)
Joining the worldwide discussion on the meaning and continuity of post-socialist transformation started with the jubilee of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the seminar proposes the students to explore the vulnerable state of modernist heritage confronted with national memory politics and market forces. At the same time, the seminar seeks to transgress colonial interpretations of ”Eastern Europe” and give a chance to discover empowering artistic practices and strong cultural actors of the region that oppose the disappearance of modernist heritage. Finally, the seminar aims to examine heritage negotiation as a per se multidisciplinary endeavor and proposes the students of all disciplines to search for new ways of cooperation to secure the future of architectural icons. As part of the seminar, the students will make four-day-excursion to Kyiv, Ukraine (planned  29.05-01.06). To register for the seminar, please write a very short motivation to galyna.sukhomud[at]uni-weimar.de until 20.04.2020.

Winter semester 2019/2020

Lecture "European Cities"
What is the “European City”? How did cities in Europe develop historically? And what are trends and challenges that characterize contemporary European urban development? By engaging with these questions, the lecture provides basic and interdisciplinary knowledge on European urban development. It discusses central concepts related to the “European City”, provides an overview of foundational research, and explores new strands in urban studies. It illustrates these developments with case studies from different European cities. In the first part, the lecture reflects on the history of urban development and the material and immaterial urban heritage in European cities, and engages with the analytical and normative dimensions of the “European City”. In the second part, it confronts the conceptual and theoretical concepts with current socio-spatial, economic and political developments in different European cities, such as neoliberal urbanism, processes of postsocialist urban transformation or the construction of heritage.

Seminar "Introduction to European Cities"
“Introduction to European Cities” is a reading seminar that is closely linked to the lecture “European Cities”. It provides comprehensive knowledge of European city development and introduces students to key texts in urban studies. The seminar systematically deepens the topics introduced in the lecture. We will read selected texts, critically reflect upon them, and use them as the basis for group works and discussions. Doing so we will familiarize ourselves with relevant current and historical positions and research on European cities. Topics to be discussed include the European city as analytical and normative concept, neoliberal urbanism, postsocialist urban transformation, material and immaterial urban heritage. The seminar is held every two weeks.