Poligonal Berlin: Audiowalk: The Politics of Public Space
In times of a pandemic crisis, individual freedom of movement and social life is curtailed for the sake of public health. In our cities, restrictive rules and directives from local governments particularly impact on how we (are allowed to) use public space. With every new directive, we need to re-adjust, re-align and re-configure our way in which we navigate – if at all – the city. These times raise new questions concerning the right to the city or more specifically the right to public space.
While drifting through the city, in this associative acoustic city walk our participants are exposed to a range of different voices and approaches that critically reflect on the politics of public space in general and on public space in times of a pandemic crisis in particular. Local urbanists, sociologists, architects, planners and urban actors read out classic texts or talk about their own approach on topics such as diversity, digitalization, gender, the state of exception, homelessness, and surveillance in relation to public space.
This is the radio version of two audiowalks created by POLIGONAL Office for Urban Communication. It was originally created as an audio walk with several stops in Berlin. To people who are currently in Berlin, we warmly recommend following the route of the walk using the Echoes App.
Audio walk 1: tinyurl.com/y5lyqev6
Audio walk 2: tinyurl.com/y6tubbgy
The audio walk topics and contributors are:
Navigating a Pandemic/ Krystin Arneson (Writer – POLIGONAL) reads Gia Kourlas
The Laws of Peripheral Vision/ Prof. Abdoumaliq Simone (Urbanist – University of Shefield) on workarounds and the right of way on the street
Listening to Pandemic: Markus Bader
Zones of Exceptions/ Dr. Christian Haid (Sociologist – POLIGONAL) on street level bureaucracy
The Death of the Street/ Dr. Afia Afenah (Urban Anthropologist – University College London UCL) reads James Holston
Eyes on the Street/ Dr. Nihad El-Kayed (Social Scientist – HU Berlin) reads Jane Jacobs
Listening to Pandemic: Anna Steigemann
Throwntogetherness: An Ideal?/ Lukas Staudinger (Architect – POLIGONAL) reads Doreen Massey
Listening to Pandemic:Kurt Calleja
Political Spaces, Spaces of Agency/ Dr. Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (ETH Zürich) reflects on architecture influencing political processes
All the Single Ladies/ Dr. Annika Levels (Urban Planner – Urbanizers Berlin) reads Rebecca Traister
Street Fight/ Dr. Annika Levels (Urban Planner – Urbanizers Berlin) reads Jason Henderson
Engineering Socialist Public Space/ Natalia Kvitkova (Urban Researcher – POLIGONAL) on GDR urban environments as instigators for societal change
Listening to Pandemic: Tom Brennecke
With additional soundscapes by:
Grazer Soundscapes (various city sounds)
Klankbeeld (various city sounds)
JorgenJak (Demonstration in Central Copenhagen in favour for bicycle paths, about 1981)
Paisagemsonoraunila (Protest at women’s day, Foz do Iguaçu, Brasil, 2015)
