The ecological and social transition toward more sustainable ways of living demands a fundamental shift in how we observe, understand, and engage with urban spaces. As part of the Urban Landscape in Transition Workshop, this public discussion brings together internationally renowned architects, urbanists, and researchers Paola Viganò and Charles Waldheim to explore the urban landscape’s possibilities and challenges within the context of socio-ecological transformation.
Grounded in the specific case of Detroit, the conversation will address how landscapes may constitute a lens for imagining more inclusive and resilient futures. The conversation will feature contributions from local partners, whose deep knowledge of the territory will contribute to enriching the dialogue between global perspectives and local realities.
Additional speakers to be announced.
This public event is part of the Urban Landscape in Transition Workshop taking place from September 4 to 6, 2025, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Urbanism (Lab-U) at EPFL, Brightside Collective, the College for Creative Studies, and Swissnex in Boston and New York.
Speakers
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Paola Viganò
Paola Viganò
EPFL Lab-UPaola Viganò, architect and urbanist, is Full Professor in Urban Theory and Urban Design at the EPFL (CH) (where she directs the Habitat Research Center and the Lab-U) and at IUAV Venice (IT). She received the Grand Prix de l’Urbanisme in 2013, the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the UCLouvain in 2016 in the frame of “Utopia for our Time”, the Flemish Culture Award for Architecture in 2017, and the Golden medal to the career of Milano Triennale in 2018. Together with Bernardo Secchi, she founded Studio (1990-2014) working on numerous projects and visions in Europe. Since 2015, StudioPaolaViganò works on the ecological and social transition of cities, landscapes and territories designing urban and territorial projects and realizing public spaces in Europe as the new public park in Dessel Nuclear Research center (Belgium), or Marie Janson Plein in Brussels, together with VVV. Studio has also won the competition for the realization of the municipal plan (PdCom) of Lugano (Switzerland), just completed and is consultant of the City of Geneva for its municipal plan (PdCom). Studio is finally coordinating the Strategic Scheme for the recovery of the Vesdre Valley (Belgium) after the flooding catastrophe of 2021 summer. In 2019, her work has been exhibited at the Shenzen Biennale and in 2021 at the Venice Biennale. In 2022, she receives the Schelling Prize for Architectural Theory.
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Bio
Charles Waldheim
Harvard GSDCharles Waldheim is a North American architect and urbanist based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Waldheim’s research examines the relationships between landscape, ecology, and contemporary urbanism. Waldheim is author, editor, or co-editor of numerous publications on these topics, including Landscape as Urbanism: A General Theory (Princeton University Press) and The Landscape Urbanism Reader (Princeton Architectural Press). Waldheim developed the theory of landscape urbanism in response to the industrial economies and emergent ecologies of the American city. On this topic, he curates the Harvard GSD’s Future of the American City podcast series. Waldheim is John E. Irving Professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design where he directs the school’s Office for Urbanization. He also serves as the Ruettgers Curator of Landscape at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Waldheim is recipient of the Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome; the Visiting Scholar Research Fellowship at the Canadian Centre for Architecture; the Sanders Fellowship at the University of Michigan; and the Cullinan Chair at Rice University. He has been a visiting scholar at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany.
Partners
This event is presented in collaboration with EPFL – Lab-U, the College for Creative Studies, Brightside Collective, and the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chicago. The event takes place at Newlab Detroit at Michigan Central.
