Projekt UAS Das Beauty Projekt II

Projekt Intro: Today the term beautiful is virtually banished from any discussion about urban life – the design professions sometimes secretly talk about the beauty of buildings but otherwise are completely ignorant about the beauty that emerges and really matters – the life in the city. Most of those who are concerned with the part of cities that are not made of concrete, steel and glass, eschew the term altogether – sustainability, fairness and justice, are words that we feel comfortable with – beauty not. “Das Beauty Projekt” wants to tackle the issue of beauty in urban life and jumpstart a discussion about how to reclaim the term for progressive urban thinking. What is the beauty of urban life? What are the conditions that create beauty? Where do we find our own places of beautiful urban life? Is it (window-) shopping along fancy boulevards, the seductive gazes cast on a crowded sidewalk, traffic circles crowded at rush-hour or bike messengers zipping through streets? Is it dingy bars and obnoxious carrepair places or romantic parks and rooftop terraces? There are thousands of moments and images that can come to mind. How can planners, designers, builders, thinkers and activists relate to an agenda of beauty in urban life and recapture a vital concept.” FB 06 Architektur, Stadtplanung, Landschaftsplanung Uni Kassel SS2007 Univ.-Prof. Dipl-Ing. Schulze Wolfgan