We Need to Learn Cities Anew, not as Masters but as Amateurs.
As part of the emerging talent cohort Future Architecture Platform (FAP) in 2016, Amateur Cities was invited to the first Matchmaking Conference at the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), in Ljubljana, Slovenia. During the event all 25 selected participants presented their visions for future architecture and pitched to become a part of the Future Architecture program from March to October 2016. The Matchmaking Conference was open to the public and included lectures by Jonathan Howard and Liam Young.
The vision of Amateur Cities titled ‘We Need to Learn Cities Anew, not as Masters but as Amateurs’ presented a plea for a different approach to architecture and its relation with its social and political role.
The idea of Amateur Cities is not to give answers but to research, find links, establish connections and enable communication across disciplines that will allow to bring these alternatives to life.
While architects keep debating about their profession, urban development just happens without their participation. Cities grow and transform, not as places of habitation, but as investment machines. Developing without a vision neither by architects and urban planners nor by politicians they seem to offer a rather dystopian future. In order to bring their role as a human habitat back to the centre of urban and architectural discourse, not only architects but also citizens ought to become more critical about urban development processes and their relationship with the economy, technology, and politics. Amateur Cities has been established to build awareness and enable exchange between citizens, theoreticians, and practitioners who focus on finding better alternatives for urban habitation.