Summary

English:
This webinar symposium aims to advance architectural and landscape knowledge on floating as ways of living, urging the study of natural and artificial (modern/vernacular) floating habitats in the broadest sense. The debate will be of interdisciplinary interest, offering a new critical ecological-cultural gaze at floating landscapes from different lenses: from historical examples to contemporary design-based proposals, from the Metabolists’ theory of marine cities to contemporary socio-political urgency in the Anthropocene highlighted by the current threats of climate change and the constraints of a post-industrial and post-consumerist society.

The symposium holds that floating islands (both as natural and artificial artifacts, but also as an abstract idea) are a concrete and powerful representative habitat of today’s interrelatedness facing contemporary global radical changes and challenges.

The participants are international scholars, academics and practitioners from different backgrounds and geographical areas, thus covering an incredible spectrum of perspectives and expertise on floating habitats. The various contributions intend to promote mutual exchange of critical knowledge and transdisciplinary reflections, whilst the discussion on selected and relevant case studies will make this event more significant, with global visibility expanding and deepening the scientific comprehension of this urgent and timely topic.

Italian:
Il simposio Floating Habitat si propone di far avanzare le conoscenze architettoniche e paesaggistiche su floating come modalità di abitare, sollecitando lo studio degli habitat galleggianti e sospesi sia naturali che vernacolari e moderni,  con una vasta apertura interpretativa del tema. Il dibattito sarà il più interdisciplinare possibile, offrendo un nuovo sguardo ecologico-culturale- critico sui paesaggi del floating da diversi punti di vista: da casi studio anche utopici del passato a proposte progettuali contemporanee in costruzione, dalla teoria delle città marine dei Metabolisti all’urgenza socio-politica contemporanea nell’Antropocene, dalle attuali minacce del cambiamento climatico ai vincoli di una società post-industriale e post-consumistica.

Il simposio ritiene che il tema del floating  –  inteso sia come idea astratta che come artefatto e paesaggio naturale e artificiale in acqua, aria e spazio – costituisca un habitat concreto e fortemente rappresentativo dell’interrelazione odierna tra cambiamenti e sfide radicali globali.

I partecipanti sono studiosi, accademici e professionisti internazionali provenienti da diversi contesti e aree geografiche, andando a coprire così un incredibile spettro di prospettive e competenze sul floating habitat. I vari contributi intendono promuovere lo scambio reciproco di conoscenze critiche e riflessioni transdisciplinari, mentre la discussione e apertura interpretativa su casi studio rilevanti renderà questo simposio fondativo, con una visibilità globale che amplierà e approfondirà la comprensione scientifica di questo tema urgente e attuale.

Speakers

Webex Meeting

https://politecnicomilano.webex.com/meet/leonardo.zuccaro

Posters and Abstracts

Organisers

Leonardo Zuccaro Marchi | PoliMi
Leonardo Zuccaro Marchi is an architect and Assistant Professor in Architecture and Urban Studies at Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi), Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU). He holds a joint PhD from the IUAV University of Venice and TU Delft and a joint Master of Architecture degree from Milano Politecnico and Torino Politecnico. He is author of ‘The Heart of the City’ (Routledge 2018), and he is cofounder of CoPE_Collective of Projects in Equipoise. https://www.leonardozuccaromarchi.com/

Raffaele Pernice | UNSW Sydney
Raffaele Pernice is an EU licensed architect and Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney). He holds a PhD in Architecture from Waseda University and a Master of Architecture degree from IUAV University of Venice. He is editor of ‘The Urbanism of Metabolism. Visions, Scenarios and Models for the Mutant City of Tomorrow’ (Routledge 2022).

Event’s Partners