[spectre] Fr. Feb. 8, 20.30 hrs: Nader Vossoughian: Otto Neurath - Information and the Global Polis, De Balie, Amsterdam

[Eric Kluitenberg]

A  N  N  O  U  N  C  E  M  E  N  T

Nader Vossoughian: Otto Neurath - Information and the Global Polis

De Balie Amsterdam, Friday February 8, 20.30 hrs

Live webcast at: www.debalie.nl/live

The American philosopher and architectural theorist  Nader Vossoughian  
investigates in this presentation the possibilities for a democratic  
and participatory approach top urban and social planning. He will  
devote specific attention to the work of the Austrian philosopher,  
sociologist and economist Otto Neurath (1882-1945).

Writer, editor and cultural theorist Steve Rushton will offer a short  
response to Vossoughian's presentation.

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Nader Vossoughian: Otto Neurath - Information and the Global Polis
Abstract of the lecture (De Balie, Amsterdam, February 8, 2008)

Urban and military planning have been virtually indistinguishable for  
most of history. Ancient Roman towns such as Timgad and London were  
first conceived as military encampments. In the nineteenth century,  
Georges-Eugène Haussmann constructed his boulevards in Paris with the  
aim of stemming civil unrest. Given this past, are participatory or  
democratic approaches to urban and social planning possible? They are,  
at least in principle, and this lecture explores one such example.

This presentation looks specifically at the ideas and achievements of  
the Austrian sociologist and planner Otto Neurath (1882-1945), a long- 
neglected giant in the history of the Information Age. A founder of  
the Vienna Circle and the Unity of Science movement, a collaborator of  
figures as varied as Paul Otlet, Cornelis van Eesteren, Gerd Arntz,  
and Le Corbusier, he had an indelible impact on discussions about the  
modern metropolis. He advocated informal or participatory approaches  
to urban and social planning and attempted to find ways of  
democratizing public space in the contemporary city. In this lecture,  
he is presented as a theorist of the global polis – as someone who  
attempted to reconcile the tangibility and intimacy of the ancient  
Greek city-state, a place that according to Aristotle fostered  
community and democratic exchange, with the anonymity and  
heterogeneity of the global metropolis.

More information and links:
www.debalie.nl/artikel.jsp?podiumid=media&articleid=208232

Website of the exhibition After Neurath – The Global Polis at Stroom,  
The Hague:
www.stroom.nl/activiteiten/manifestatie.php?m_id=8710842

Date | Firday February 8
Time | 20.30 uur
Language | English
Tickets | 5 euro
Live webcast | www.debalie.nl/live

Organised in collaboration with Stroom – Centre for Visual Art and  
Architecture, The Hague.