Description
The symposium A Century of Urban Futures: Archives, Vectors, and Perspectives(1950–2050) invites interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners to join us at ETH Zurich for a
two-day symposium exploring the shifting narratives, epistemologies, and imaginaries of
urban development. Hosted by Philip Ursprung and organized by Eric Häusler, Thomas
Hänsli, Agostino Nickl, and Simon Nougué, A Century of Urban Futures will take place on
September 10–11, 2025, in the context of the collaborative research project The Archive of
the Urban Age. The term Urban Age is often used to describe the present era of global
urbanization, as if it were the inevitable outcome of demographic and economic trends. This
symposium challenges such deterministic narratives. We propose a counter-history: the
Urban Age was not simply a fact, but a project - actively imagined, constructed, and
debated since the mid-20th century by architects, planners, policymakers, and scholars
alike. From the postwar period onward, this process intersected with the emergence of
electronic computing and the Information Age, shaping new urban epistemologies. Today,
the rise of generative AI and large language models (LLMs) once again transforms how we
produce, organize, and interpret urban knowledge. It prompts us to reconsider the histories
we tell, the archives we build, and the futures we envision.
| Period | 10 Sept 2025 |
|---|---|
| Held at | ETH Zürich, Switzerland |
| Degree of Recognition | International |