Curating Urban Futures: “Meanwhile” Tactics in the Context of Urban Regeneration Strategies

TECHNE AHRC PhD studentship in collaboration with Distrito Castellana Norte and Kingston School of Art, Kingston University London

Kingston School of Art and Distrito Castellana Norte welcome applications for an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Partnership studentship: Curating Urban Futures: “Meanwhile” Tactics in the Context of Urban Regeneration Strategies. This is offered under the TECHNE Doctoral Training Partnership Scheme, to begin in October 2021. 

Deadline for Expressions of Interest: Monday 25 January 2021: 5.00pm (GMT)

Interviews: w/c 1 February 2021

Project supervisors:

Dr Jana Scholze, School of Critical Studies and Creative Industries and Dr Christoph Lueder, School of Art and Architecture in collaboration with Dr Almudena Cano and Gema del Pozo of Distrito Castellana Norte.

Project Vision

Large scale, complex urban regeneration projects brought about by transformation of transport infrastructure are profoundly shaping urban futures of European cities. London’s Kings Cross project is a prominent example; it has served as a model for Madrid Nuevo Norte (MNN), an ongoing urban redevelopment project, led by Distrito Castellana Norte, our project partner. Comprising 230 ha of urban land, MNN will proceed in stages over the next 15 years; the project will reinforce and unite neighbourhoods currently isolated by a railway corridor that has become redundant. This PhD investigates how urban multi-phase projects open up interim spaces of challenge, conflict and opportunity where initial demolition and construction works have brought to public attention the scale and direction of the urban transformation process, highlighting issues, problems and prospects.

Such interim, or “meanwhile” phases stimulate public discourse and citizen engagement, while the economic and political momentum of the transformation and the power of its agents simultaneously challenge the meaningfulness of participatory processes. The suspended stage of “meanwhile” scenarios, where the future intersects the past and new arrivals mix with long-time local habitants, affords researchers a temporary window of opportunity to study, challenge and test the dynamics and forces that make cities at their very point of making. This CDA will examine frameworks for public participation established in London and Madrid in order to then develop new, trans-disciplinary methods and processes for meaningfully engaging societal stakeholders and local communities. It coalesces around curatorial projects to be implemented and tested in MNN and critically evaluated. Whilst the student will determine the parameters of their research and formulate their research questions and approaches, the supervisory team and project partner have identified the following research themes as key to developing transferrable and scalable models of participation:

a. Time as strategic dimension in designing public spaces

b. Combining temporary interventions and tactical urbanism with long-term strategic approaches

c. Interplay of societal actors and forces over extended intervals of “meanwhile” scenarios

d. Stimulating engagement and building a sustainable culture of participation.

The trans-disciplinary methodology is anchored in an initial phase of literature review, archival studies, on-site documentation and stakeholder interviews examining urban and neighbourhood planning, in particular institutionalised public participation in London (Localism Act) alongside emergent, experimental curatorial and participatory practices. The student will have access to a range of leading London-based practitioners such as The Decorators, We Made That and Assemble whom KSA has collaborated with. Working with the project partner and societal stakeholders, the student will then develop ideas for live interventions in Madrid Nuevo Norte. Using a mix of “participatory action research” methodologies, their research will map and evaluate agencies and power relationships manifest in complex urban interactions while simultaneously engaging communities through curatorial projects that may include installations, performances, gatherings, debates, walks, rituals, or workshops.

Studentship

The studentship will be based in Architecture and Curating at Kingston University. During the research process, the student will divide their time between Distrito Castellana Norte and Kingston University, where a full academic training and development programme is provided.

Subject to AHRC eligibility criteria, the studentship covers tuition fees (home rate only) and a grant (stipend) towards living expenses for three and a half years or part time study for up to seven years (50% FTE and above).

For further details, including eligibility and how to apply, please visit: https://www.kingston.ac.uk/faculties/kingston-school-of-art/research-and-innovation/research-funding-opportunities/