Tim Rieniets - Urban Incubator: Belgrade
- Title: Tim Rieniets - Urban Incubator: Belgrade
- Author: Tim Rieniets
- Date: 30.05
- Tags: community, lecture, urbanism
The ‘Urban Incubator: Belgrade’ is an alternative urban development project, initiated by the Goethe-Instut Belgrad and curated by German urbanist Tim Rieniets.
The Urban Incubator: Belgrade is an alternative urban development project in Savamala, Belgrade. The project is founded on two principles: On one hand it is based on the conviction that cultural activities –and the social, economic and symbolic value they create– can be the foundation for revitalizing depressed inner-city neighborhoods such as Savamala. On the other hand it believes in the capacity of such neighborhoods –their history, ambiance and architecture– to be the most fertile grounds for cultural activities of many kinds. The Urban Incubator: Belgrade attempts to make use of this mutually constitutive relationship, between city and culture, and attempts to generate both high-quality cultural production and a sustainable urban development of Savamala.
The driving force of the Urban Incubator: Belgrade will be artists, activists and entrepreneurs –from Serbia as well as from international descent– who will be asked to live and work in Savamala for a period of time. However, Urban Incubator: Belgrade will not be like other artist-in-residence programs. Savamala will not only serve as workspace or source of inspiration. Savamala is the project! The participants will be asked to invent site-specific projects, considering social, economic, ecologic or aesthetic aspects of the quarter. The projects may range from architectural design to performative art, from economic entrepreneurship to social work, and from intuitive action to critical reflection. As different as these projects may be, they all share the same space and the same objective: the sustainable development of Savamala.
After a period engagement - and just before the profit maximising logic of retail, real estate development and tourism might take over - the project will come to an end. The participants will move and the temporarily used spaces will be reintegrated into the normal lifecycle of the city. No traces will be left, just the memories and ideas of a possible future of Savamala.
The Urban Incubator: Belgrade is an initative of the Goethe-Institut Begrad and curated by German urbanist Tim Rieniets. The project is currently under preparation and will.
Biography
Tim Rieniets is urban designer, research and curator, currently working as senior lecturer at the ETH Zurich and holds a guest professorship at Technical University Munich. His research and design interests are concerning contemporary urbanization processes, such as shrinking cities, cities in conflict, cities and creative industries and others. He has published several books (Atlas of Shrinking Cities; City of Collision; Open City: Designing Coexistence) and has curated, among other exhibitions, the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2009.