Atlas Uncovering Territories in Bogotá

The maps and essays in this atlas offer a new view on the urban expansion of Bogotá and the process of the metropolitanization of the Sabana de Bogotá. The cartographic results of two doctoral thesis focus on the spatial-morphological transformation of Bogotá and the territory of the Sabana (Arturo Calderón Esteban), and zooms of the six former villages Usme, Bosa, Fontibón, Engativá, Suba, and Usaquén (Alissa Diesch). The understanding and representation of the Sabana de Bogotá as a historically grown, coherent territory enables new and creative visioning for the region. Reading the former villages as historic centralities facilitates a new perspective on the urbanisation process and highlights the dynamics of the poly-centric network the metropolitan region is inscribed in. It sheds light on places that are often considered peripheral and passively devoured by the expanding city, working out their individual character and formative role in the metropolitanization process and the contemporary city. Additionally, the atlas sheds light on the agency and persistence of the historically grown structures, creating a simultaneity of different times in the presence and a resource for the future

Trueque Based Urbanism

Usme is a village and former municipality in the south of Bogotá. Urbanisation has transformed the social and spatial structure of the village deeply. Agrarian production and distribution has been affected strongly by the global trend of industrialisation of agriculture and changing agents in the field during the second half of the twentieth century, while at the same time a significant share of the area of the former municipality turned urban. Both processes are analysed in a parallel way with a focus on overlooked existing and changing relations and potentials of food cycles between rural and urban inhabitants and challenges regarding production and distribution of agrarian goods. The problems and solutions of food flows could represent alternative benchmarks for the sustainable future of the urban expansion area between the rural and the urban part of Usme. This analysis is developed in the framework of my PhD Thesis

Recognition of a territory: the forgotten cultural heritage of Bogotá’s villages

Due to the extreme growth of Bogotá in the second half of the 20th century, part of the city now consists of six former villages. These prior rural sites demonstrate an equally long settlement history similar to the historic center of Bogotá. However, in a research project realized at the Universidad La Gran Colombia came to light, that they are not fully established as rural-urban heritage of the city and the memory of these sites is in danger to be forgotten. The morphological transition of these former rural sites from rural to urban space will be studied and collective memory of social and symbolic transformations will be made visible by PAR methods. This processes can lead to a more heterogeneous perception of heritage could thereby contribute to a multilayered construction of identity. Representations of the territory of Bogotá drawn by students will be analyzed

Bogotá // Hannover Creative Cities in Exchange. Workshop Report

The Future of Creative Cities explores the potentials of creative cities. In a collaborative workshop the Faculty of Creative Studies of Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá and the Chair of Territorial Design and Urbanism of Leibniz University Hannover created an encounter to explore connections between urban design and art. By providing a virtual space of sharing and exchanging, the workshop invited to imagine, re-imagine and activate in a prospective way the idea of creative cities based on artistic methodologies. Invited international workshop leaders of the fields of arts, architecture and urban design generated interactive, blended virtual-onsite platforms to discuss and promote culture and art as a driving forces for new pathways in understanding and creating the urban space

Morphological and cultural transformation of the periphery of Bogotá

Como consecuencia de la urbanización precipitada de Bogotá durante el siglo XX, la mega ciudad actual abarca en su morfología urbana seis pueblos antiguos. Estos asentamientos fueron fundados, igual que el centro histórico de Bogotá, en la época colonial; no obstante su historia se remonta hasta épocas prehispánicas. En este artiuclo se delimita las investigaciones espacialmente a dos de los seis asentamientos prehispánicos que fueron convertidos en pueblos de indios y luego a localidades de la metrópoli. La reconstrucción cartográfica de estos lugares en una serie de mapas de los años 1940 y 1980 junto a procesos de investigación iterativos, combinando métodos y conocimientos de diferentes disciplinas (trabajo participativo, literatura local entre otros), han revelado en los patrones contemporáneos estructuras históricas como los resguardos indígenas ligados a los pueblos de indios. La reciente formación de Cabildos Indígenas visibiliza una cultura que muchos creyeron desaparecida. El trabajo evidencia una continuidad de la presencia indigena dentro de la metrópolis contemporánea. Las formas urbanas y las dinámicas sociales se han transformado y condicionado mutuamente. De esta lectura surge la necesidad de un replanteamiento del concepto de patrimonio y proponer un urbanismo futuro sostenible y resiliente basado en principios autoctonos.As a consequence of the rapid urbanization of Bogotá during the 20th century, the current mega city includes six ancient villages in its urban morphology. These settlements were founded, like the historical center of Bogota, in colonial times, but their history dates back to pre-Hispanic times. In this article, research is spatially delimited to two of the six pre-Hispanic settlements that were converted into Indian villages and later to districts of the metropolis. The cartographic reconstruction of these places in a series of maps from the 1940s and 1980s together with iterative research processes, combining methods and knowledge from different disciplines (participatory work, local literature among others), have revealed in the contemporary patterns historical structures such as the indigenous resguardos linked to the Indian villages. The recent formation of indigenous councils has made visible a culture that many believed it would have been disappeared. The work evidences a continuity of indigenous presence within the contemporary metropolis. Urban forms and social dynamics have transformed and conditioned each other. From this reading arises the need to rethink the concept of heritage and propose a sustainable and resilient future urbanism based on autochthonous principles.Peer Reviewe

Recomposition of Urban and Cultural Forms in Bogotá’s periphery

Como consecuencia de la urbanización precipitada de Bogotá durante el siglo XX, la mega ciudad actual abarca en su morfología urbana seis pueblos antiguos. Estos asentamientos fueron fundados, igual que el centro histórico de Bogotá, en la época colonial; no obstante su historia se remonta hasta épocas pre- hispánicas. En este artiuclo se delimita las investigaciones espacialmente a dos de los seis asentamientos prehispánicos que fueron convertidos en pueblos de indios y luego a localidades de la metrópoli. Hasta los años 1940s los pueblos se destacan por su diseño urbano conciso con las plazas centrales como nodos rurales. Ahora conectados a Bogotá por un tejido urbano continuo compuesto por ensanches de diferentes patrones, se pueden aún identificar fácilmente las plazas centrales y las manzanas circundantes. La reconstrucción cartográfica de estos lugares en una serie de mapas de los años 1940 y 1980 junto a procesos de investigación iterativos, combinando métodos y conocimientos de diferentes disciplinas (tra-bajo participativo, literatura local entre otros), han revelado en los patrones contemporáneos estructuras históricas como los resguardos indígenas ligados a los pueblos de indios. La reciente formación de Ca-bildos Indígenas Muiscas visibiliza una cultura que muchos creyeron desaparecida. La comparación de mapas históricos y la localización de habitantes raizales evidencia una continuidad de la presencia muisca dentro de la metrópolis contemporánea. Las formas urbanas y las dinámicas sociales se han transformado y condicionado mutuamente durante este proceso que puede ser leído hasta el día de hoy. De esta lectura se pueden sacar conclusiones sobre la necesidad de un replanteamiento del concepto de patrimonio y pro-poner un urbanismo futuro sostenible y resiliente basado en principios autoctonos.As a consequence of the rapid urbanization of Bogotá during the 20th century, the current mega city inclu- des six ancient villages in its urban morphology. These settlements were founded, like the historical center of Bogota, in colonial times, but their history dates back to pre-Hispanic times. In this article, research is spatially delimited to two of the six pre-Hispanic settlements that were converted into Indian villages and later to districts of the metropolis. Until the 1940s, the villages stood out for their concise urban design with the central squares as rural no- des. Now connected to Bogotá by a continuous urban fabric made up of expansions of different patterns, the central squares and surrounding blocks can still be identified easily. The cartographic reconstruction of these places in a series of maps from the 1940s and 1980s together with iterative research processes, combining methods and knowledge from different disciplines (participatory work, local literature among others), have revealed in the contemporary patterns historical structures such as the indigenous resguardos linked to the Indian villages. The recent formation of Muisca Indigenous Councils makes visible a culture that many believed to have disappeared. The comparison of historical maps and the location of native inhabitants shows a continuity of the Muisca presence within the contem- porary metropolis. Urban forms and social dynamics have transformed and conditioned each other during this process that can be read to this day. From this reading, conclusions can be drawn about the need to rethink the concept of heritage and propose a sustainable and resilient future urbanism based on autocht- honous principles

New Habitat Explorations

This research explores mountains as a world apparently distant to metropolis that offers chances for resilience. Mountains have always been and are now—in cli- mate change, social and economic changes, and even in the Corona crisis—plac- es of inventiveness. Our interest are new lifestyles and living/working models in mountain areas that attract new “temporary citizens” and form chances for peripheral and marginalised communities, in new linkages with metropolis. In the perspective of urbanism and architecture, we want to address spatial innova- tion connected with this “new habitat”, in particular spatial strategies, upscaling, replication, new typologies. Two innovations are at the core of the research and design projects displayed in this book: new forms of urban and territorial projects, more strategic, more adaptive, more interactive, and new forms of analysis to grasp cultural resources for a creative use towards constructing shared visions

Circular Dynamics: Kultureller Wandel für stadtnahe Dörfer zur Klimaneutralität

Rural life near the city? In all larger German cities, urban expansion has greatly changed the peripheral areas since 70 years. In Hanover, where suburbanisation took place along major infrastructure axes, 10 small villages close to the city have survived to this day. Only partly characterised by cultural heritage and agricultural functions, they have already functionally become parts of the city—almost hidden in the general perception. The aim of WESTSIDE STORY is to discover these villages and develop narratives for their future, as liveable, attractive places, with new spatial and social density, which actively contribute to the increased demand for living and working space in the Hannover conurbation

City Makers: A New Paradigm for Urbanism

Looking at the emblematic photography by Mau- ro Masera of 1960 that sets the freshly produced Sanluca chair on stage in the arcades of San Luca in Bologna, we experience a flash-back to the inventiveness and energy of the Italian design in the 1960ies. The approach of City Makers responds to a so- cial, economic and cultural move towards re-es- tablishing materiality in the age of digitalisation. With the project City Makers we develop two—as 9 will be shown—strongly interlinked lines of re- search: firsthand, the question of place and space as stage and source of the new creative and pro- ductive urban paradigm of making. And secondly, the question of the influence of a maker paradigm to the concepts and ways to work on the positive transformation of city and territory

Climate Commons : Circular Design für Neue Siedlungsmodelle

Der Klimawandel stellt bisheriges Denken und Handeln umfassend in Frage. Flächenverbrauch wird dabei als zentrales Thema für Stadt- und Ortsplanung gesehen: die Expansion und Diffusion von Siedlung in Naturräume konterkariert Ziele der Biodiversität, ökosytemarer Zusammenhänge, des Schutzes der Ressource Boden, mikro- wie makroklimatischer Stabilität sowie des Schutz- es vor Naturgefahren. Dennoch sind nach wie vor im öffentlichen Bewußtsein genauso wie im Selbstverständnis von Architektur und Städte- bau die Paradigmen der Expansion und Diffusion tief verankert. CLIMATE COMMONS fokussiert vor diesem Hinter- grund auf die Entwicklung von Orten außerhalb der Metropolzentren, wo sich neue Dynamiken der Peripherie feststellen lassen (Schröder, Carta, Ferretti, Lino 2018), und konzentriert den Blick auf Wachstumsräume, da hier die akutellen und zukünftigen Konflikte in Richtung auf das Net- to-Null-Ziel hohe Relevanz und Transferwert versprechen