'Shaping European Cities'

Miriam Giordano

14. September 2015

Conference speakers:

– Anna Lisa Boni, Secretary General of EUROCITIES.
– Belinda Tato, Architect, co-founder and co-director of ecosistema urbano.
– Julien De Smedt, Architect, founder and director of JDS Architects
– Halldór Guðmundsson, Director of Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre
– Kristian Skovbakke Villadsen, Partner in Gehl Architects.
– Paola Viganò, founder of Studio Associato Bernardo Secchi Paola Viganò
– Jarosław Bondar, Szczecin City Architect
– Barbara Lemke, European Investment Bank
– Jan Olbrycht, Member of the European Parliament
– Martine Reicherts, Director-General for Education and Culture, European Commission
– Normunds Popens, Deputy Director General for Regional Policy, European Commission
– Tibor Navracsics, European Commission er for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport

Barozzi / Veiga: Philharmonic Hall (Photo: Simon Menges)

"Shaping European Cities," the opening event of the exhibition "European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2015" at BOZAR, Brussels, aims to strengthen the dialogue between policymakers, architects and a wider audience about the role of quality architecture as a key element for regenerating European cities, and opening up potential new paths for collaboration.

Organized by Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Cretive Europe, the format will be a series of short and high-impact talks followed by debates.

The mains objective of the event are:

To raise awareness amongst EU policymakers and the broader public of the importance of quality architecture in the process of shaping more ethical, fairer, greener and economically sustainable cities.

To raise awareness among public bodies and European decision makers of the fact that cities need investment in order to keep them competitive, attractive for youth employment and reinforce a local and European identity.

To explore new ways of collaboration between policy-makers and architects.

To reach these objectives three debate panels will take place during the event:
Panel 1: City economy and energy resilience
Panel 2: Social balance and living together
Panel 3: Democratic change for the cities of tomorrow