Sofa Talks — Annekatrien Verdickt

During the corona crisis, we discovered an uncanny, and at the same time sublime, ghost town. Even after the lockdown, the streets and squares remain strangely empty. The urban way of life is determined by queues and bubbles that varies. The the COVID-19 crisis shakes the city to its foundations. The public space turns out to be inappropriate with the new social distancing rules. Collective facilities, such as schools and offices, are being left out after homeworking became the norm. Shopping centres are superfluous now that parcel services serve consumers at their own front doors. Meanwhile, factories and hospitals continue to operate. Residential care centres locked themselves in. The private home is under pressure as life returns to the nuclear family nucleus. City dwellers who have no roof over their heads are being rejected more than ever. 

At the same time, the corona crisis prompted calls of all kinds to commemorate the city. Governments are experimenting with Tactical Urbanism. Gideon Boie and Lieven De Cauter invite a number of architects and urban planners who have criticised the spatial dimension of the crisis. We will talk to our guests about their dreams and desires regarding post-corona architecture. What answers do they see to the many design challenges posed by the pandemic? What is the impact of the health crisis in urban politics? What forms of urban activism are still at hand? Will the city survive the corona crisis? And what if all this is just a rehearsal for the climate crisis? These are all questions that make us reflect on urbanity in the Anthropocene, the geological age of man.