Partners:
Objective - Unpacking the city of Delhi through layers of
a) Lived History and Heritage
b) Urban infrastructure
c) Ecological landscape
d) Architectural Histories
Local Partners
In this lecture, Dr Rituparna Roy will speak about the presence of Kolkata in her maiden collection of shorts - GARIAHAT JUNCTION. It is a collection of ten stories, of contemporary Indian women who have reached a critical juncture in their lives. Set primarily in post liberalized, post-millennial Kolkata, it mostly explores the lives of middle-class Bengali women in or from the city. Kolkata is just not a backdrop in GARIAHAT JUNCTION; it is also one of the characters, one of the threads that bind the stories together.
With true urban icons as the Markthal, the Timmerhuis, The Rotterdam, its Erasmus Bridge and the central train station, the city of Rotterdam has gained global recognition as hotspot for modern architecture. As phrased in the 2016 Lonely Planet: “The Netherlands’ second- biggest metropolis is a veritable open-air gallery of modern, post-modern and contemporary construction”.
The Port of Rotterdam is by far Europe’s largest port. It connects local businesses to the world’s markets – from Singapore and Shanghai to New York, Los Angeles and Munich. But it has to position itself in the heart of the new economy, to stay in leading position. The pillars of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: circularity and digitalisation therefore have to gain ground.
These are the days of start-ups, business accelerators and innovation hubs. And although the potential of public / private involvement in this is great, co-creating strategies is often difficult. The real ecosystems for innovation require a comprehensive approach, integrating urban development, regional strengths, venture capital, education and more. Rotterdam is slowly changing in to such an environment and overcoming the era of ‘too many dinner parties’.
