Future Energy Landscapes of Europe (Fall Semester 2022)
In view of both the climate crisis and the new geopolitics emerging against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, future energy landscapes will - and must - undergo / see dramatic change. The UEL research network promotes the notion of "urban energy landscape" as a conceptual tool and method for challenging the current ideas of energy as a cheap and abundant resource for architecture and urban planning. Beyond self-sufficiency buildings, the UEL research network centers on a multifaceted, spatial and relational understanding of what constitutes energy landscapes. The conditions and constraints of historical change, current challenges and possibilities, and social and environmental imaginaries of energy transition and the city are being explored. What is the impact and agency of architecture and urban design to support alternative energy sources and to implement fundamental changes in the material cultures of energy use? The UEL research network emphasizes the need for new architectural and urban thinking and action, for energy conservation, alternatives in heating and cooling, and power generation that integrates technical systems and ecological processes. Moreover, new notions of energy communities are needed for the project of an equitable, just and sustainable transition.
Coordinators:
Elke Beyer, Hochschule Dessau
Kim Förster, Manchester Architecture Research Group, University of Manchester
Sascha Roesler, Accademia di Architettura, Università della Svizzera Italiana