19 - 23 maggio 2009, Zlin e Praga
Today the Czech city of Zlín is two things at once: a historically important architectural monument and a dynamic city boasting an energetic social and commercial life, the location of the Tomáš Baťa University, where some 10,000 students are currently enrolled. Built by the Baťa shoe company in the 1920s as a factory city where living and working were to enter into a perfect symbiosis, Zlín possesses a rich architectural and intellectual heritage still very much in evidence today. Zlín is a prime example of a planned city in which all aspects of life, namely domestic living, education, and leisure time, were geared towards achieving a single goal, in this case optimizing the efficiency of a rapidly expanding shoe company. This constitutes its current relevance for city planners and architects. The symposium featuring prominent scholars and theorists pursues the question if Zlín is relevant for issues currently faced by city planners and architects and thus represents a learning model for the future. From a contemporary perspective Zlín is an irritating example, for it concords neither with the critical articulations of Postmodernism, nor with the certainties proclaimed by defenders of Modernity. The key issues to be discussed are the legacy of Fordism, post-socialist structural change, architectural branding and corporate identity - and last but by no means least, the place of social-utopian thinking in our present age. The symposium is not limited to a single location - it is conceived as a meandering format which aims to turn the topics up for discussion - architecture and the urban environment - into tangible experiences. With “Walks & Talks”, thematic sojourns conceived and conducted by experts, the symposium provides an opportunity to traverse the Baťa cosmos and show what the everyday life of current residents looks like in this monument of Modernity. The symposium “A Utopia of Modernity : Zlín” is an event staged by Zipp – German-Czech Cultural Projects, an initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation, together with The Brno House of Arts, the Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Zlín, and the National Gallery in Prague; in association with the Bauhaus Foundation Dessau, the Bauhaus Kolleg, Thomas Bata Foundation, Tomáš Baťa University, Zlín Film Studios, Shoe Museum Zlín. With the friendly support of the Zlín Region and the City of Zlín. Info: tel +49 30 61657240 fax +49 30 61657250 e-mail: zlin@projekt-zipp.de - www.projekt-zipp.de - tel +420 542 213883 fax +420 542 211662 e-mail: info@dum-umeni.cz - www.dumb.cz