- Student Projects
- Master Theses
- September 3, 2018
Urban Imaginarios. 2018
The thesis undertakes research into the agency of Urban Imaginarios whose images, forms, words and feelings compose the collective perception that shape the production of urban spaces. The overlapping interests and demands of different social and cultural groups that have been forming the historical center of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, for centuries are taken as the base to break down and trace the agency of present Urban Imaginarios of the historical borough of Belén.
Traces of Imaginarios that were found in the scope of this research are ordered in systems of reference to the following three Imaginarios that structure the empirical work, out of which the complex interaction network of Imaginaries develops:
The intact traditional Neighborhood
The repression of the Neighborhood and the displacement of its present inhabitants
The return to a valued historical center
Under the lens of the respective Imaginarios, the reciprocal reshaping between the configuration and transformation of space is observed, as well as the experiences and practices of stakeholders. Considering the different backgrounds of involved actors, the empirical study clarifies the heterogeneity of the qualities of the Imaginarios that come into conflict in the urban space of the neighborhood of Belén and form these urban spaces.
Urban Design Thesis Project by Malena Schnakenberg
contributors
2017/2018
Modes of Realising

There is an elephant in the room. It writes the themes of scholarly conferences. It constitutes both standardized and alternative modes of urban development. It mobilises and immobilises vast amounts of resources. It chooses one kind of politician over another. It draws the line between what is possible and what remains wishful thinking or speculation threatening the existence of ‘abnormal’ modes …