This symposium is being organized in conjuction with the Hands-On Urbanism exhibit presented by the Centre for City Ecology at the Urbanspace Gallery (401 Richmond Street West)

Exhibition
January 9 to March 7

“The right to the city is like a shout and a demand“, wrote French intellectual Henri Lefebvre in the 1960s.

The exhibition “Hands-On Urbanism. How to Make A Difference” is devoted to a history of ideas of appropriating land in urban space and reveals potential for initiatives by citizens willing to take action in crisis situations. The presentation is based on a critical history of ideas about the politics of space. Urban development from below leads to an informal and self-organized production of city, which never operates outside the system. Self-organization has always been both a reaction to and an incentive for urban planning.

Symposium
February 28 to March 1

The symposium "Hands-On Urbanism. How to Make a Difference" brings together activists, architects, artists and landscape planners. In times of crises, austerity measures, and increasing spatial and social injustice, new alignments have to be forged. This different history of urban transformation and the city raises pressing questions about the responsibility of architects and planners and about how we use resources.

The symposium is conceived of as both an exchange of ideas and case studies and a collaboration. A keynote lecture by Elke Krasny on Friday, February 28th, from 6:00 - 8:00pm at the Urbanspace Gallery, will give a historiographic overview on Hands-On Urbanism since the mid-19th century. Practitioners, architects, curators and community organizers, will share their work from a practical standpoint and talk about challenges they are currently facing which require them to think outside the box and to enter into new, and at times unexpected, alignments and collaborations.

A day-long symposium will take place at the Daniels Faculty on Saturday, March 1 which will be free and open to the public, however tickets are required. Participants include Adrian Blackwell [Waterloo], Anan Lololi [Afri-can FoodBasket, Toronto], Lucia Babina [Milan and Ibiza] and the community of Brant, Brigitte Shim [Toronto], Arturo Ortiz Struck [Mexico City], Elke Krasny [Vienna], Mark Poddubiuk [Montreal], and Aziza Chaouni [Toronto].

Schedule for day-long symposium on Saturday, March 1
Daniels Faculty, 230 College Street, Room 103
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM   Doors open (registration)

Changing Conditions. Toward an Architecture of Engagement
10:00 AM - 10:10 AM   Introduction - Elke Krasny
10:10 AM - 10:40 AM   Arturo Ortiz Struck
10:40 AM - 11:10 AM   Brigitte Shim
11:10 AM - 11:40 AM    Adrian Blackwell
11:40 AM - 1:00 PM   Table Discussion with Q & A; Student hosts Venessa Heddle & Ipshita Ramaswamy                                                         

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM   Break

The Right to Green. Toward Self-Organisation and Communal Landscapes
2:00 PM - 2:10 PM   Introduction - Annabel Vaughan
2:10 PM - 2:40 PM   Lucia Babina and Linda Beale (Community of Brant)
2:40 PM - 3:10 PM   Anan Lololi
3:10 PM - 3:40 PM   Aziza Chaouni
3:40 PM - 4:10 PM   Mark Poddubiuk
4:10 PM - 5:20 PM   Table Discussion with Q & A; Student hosts Doug Robb & Joel Leon
5:20 PM - 5:30 PM   Thanks - Annabel Vaughan

For more information, and to get your free tickets to the day-long symposium, visit: http://www.urbanspacegallery.ca/exhibits/hands-urbanism-how-make-difference