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What is the Future for Mid-size Cities? Panel discussion

Festival of the Future City
Aurélien Bellanger, Matevz Celik and Ilinca Păun Constantinescu

Crowdcast  |  Free

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Our panellists discuss how artists, writers and architects can help us understand the shift from big to mid-size cities.

The rate of urban shrinkage, which has seen some people moving away from superstar cities to smaller towns and rural areas in search of a better and safer quality of life, has been increased by the pandemic. In Europe, after years of expansion, urban development is taking an unexpected turn, accelerated by the health crisis and also by fears of areas being left behind. Once secondary in the collective imagination, mid-size cities could well become the focus of future concerns.

Speakers include writer Aurélien Bellanger, architect Matevž Čelik and Ilinca Păun Constantinescu, President of the IDEILAGRAM Association.

Chaired by Andrew Kelly, Director of Bristol Ideas.

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Part of the Europe Readr project initiated on the occasion of the current Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Run in association with EUNIC.

In association with

Aurélien Bellanger

Aurélien Bellanger is a French writer, a philosophy critic and an actor. He debuted in 2010 with a monograph about Michel Houellebecq and has since published four novels, mostly dealing with technology, modern life and contemporary European mythologies. His second novel, L’Aménagement du territoire, received the 2014 Prix de Flore. His latest book is Téléréalité (Gallimard, 2021).

Matevž Čelik

Matevž Čelik is the founder and programme director of Future Architecture platform, a pan-European platform for exchange and networking between emerging talents and architectural institutions. He is an architect, writer, editor, researcher and developer of new cultural models in the fields of architecture and design. Until 2020 he was director of MAO, Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which under his leadership grew into a flagship national institution with international reach. In 2016, 2018 and 2020 he was the Commissioner of the Slovenian Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia. He is a member of the advisory board of the Archipelago festival in Geneva.

Ilinca Păun Constantinescu

Ilinca Păun Constantinescu earned her PhD degree in architecture in 2013. She currently practices architecture at Ideogram Studio, teaches theory of architecture at “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism Bucharest, and leads cultural projects within the IDEILAGRAM Association. In 2021 she exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, within the Romanian pavilion, Fading Borders.

Image credit: Tudor Constantinescu

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Festival of the Future City

Festival of the Future City takes place every two years in Bristol. This year – due to the pandemic – the festival brings together live on-stage, live online and pre-recorded events. Check the project page for details and follow #FutureCity21 on Twitter.

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