“The more comfortable our cities become, the more fragile, expensive, unhealthy, and oddly characterless they grow. Comfort, pursued without restraint, turns out to be deeply uncomfortable.”
– Markus Appenzeller
On June 5 at 4:00 PM, the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts will host an open lecture by German urbanist Markus Appenzeller, titled “The Flexible City.”
The lecture will address the development of contemporary cities through the interconnected perspectives of architecture, nature, public space, and everyday urban life.
Key themes of the lecture include:
- Why cities should not pursue absolute comfort in the contemporary sense
- Nature and public spaces as the foundation of urban infrastructure
- Industrial heritage as a resource for contemporary urban planning
- Architecture as a tool for shaping social interaction and community life
Markus Appenzeller is the founder of the international architecture and urbanism company MLA+, as well as a professor and researcher specializing in urban transformation, the regeneration of industrial territories, and sustainable development. His studio, MLA+, has delivered numerous large-scale projects worldwide, including the redevelopment of London’s 320-hectare Olympic Park and a 45-hectare landscape project Xiangmi Park in Shenzhen.
The lecture will be held in English.
