shrinkingcities : Interventions

Interventions ///









	Exhibition "Shrinking Cities - Interventions" in Leipzig

In the second project phase (January 2004 to February 2006), Shrinking Cities initiated interventions for eastern Germany in two ways. First, together with the architecture magazine archplus, the project launched an idea contest in January 2004. Second, the two other project partners - the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig - directly commissioned thematic works and provided work stipends. The approaches of the works range from artistic performances to self-empowerment projects, from landscape interventions to planning and economic action concepts. Most of the works are concerned with sites in eastern Germany, primarily in the Halle/Leipzig region. Works for the Manchester/Liverpool and Detroit regions were also carried out in the framework of the contest.

The presentation of the works created for the project, as well as other works included in the project, were carried out through several paths of communication. Along with the focus of the exhibition in the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig, some works - short films - were shown as short subjects in several Leipzig program cinemas, as reports in the local media (TV, radio, print), or as posters or interventions in the city. Additionally, the winning submissions to the idea contest "Re-Inventing Urbanism" were presented in a special issue of the magazine archplus in Spring 2005

The "exhibition 2 Shrinking Cities - Interventions in Leipzig concentrated on the concepts for action and interventions for eastern Germany. The projects of the international artists, architects, and researchers thereby ranged from artistic interventions and self-empowerment projects through architectural, landscape, and media interventions to new legal regulations and utopian visions.

The Book "Shrinking Cities. Volume 2: Interventions" appeared with Verlag Hatje Cantz (ca. 650 pages, ca. 400 colored plates) in November 2005. The book discusses concepts for action, criticism of action, and utopias for shrinking cities, especially in the fields of architecture/urban planning, landscape architecture, media, theater, and art. Attention will be paid to historical examples as well as contemporary projects and realizations in many countries, especially the USA, Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany.