Speaker
Description
Cities are dynamic entities, continuously shaped by overlapping layers of history, culture, and imagination. Much like a palimpsest, these layers evolve, blur, and transform over time, redefining the city's identity and image. In an era of rapid urbanization and shifting cultural landscapes, understanding these urban palimpsests becomes critical for envisioning equitable futures, revitalizing heritage, and promoting inclusivity. Acknowledging these layers can uncover meaningful insights to inform urban regeneration strategies for reimagining cultural landscapes as spaces of coexistence and transformation.
Cinema emerges as a vital lens for examining these urban layers. As a medium deeply intertwined with architecture and urban culture, cinematic narratives reveal the way people perceive, interact with, and reimagine their cities. This research focuses on Cairo and Rome—two cities characterized by their cosmopolitan histories and rich heritage yet shaped by distinct socio-political and cultural challenges. Their cinematic representations serve as dynamic case studies for exploring the interplay between local identities, global influences, and urban transformation.
Using Henri Lefebvre’s social space triad as a theoretical foundation, the study dissects the cinematic palimpsests of Cairo and Rome. These layers of palimpsests extracted from movies from different eras seek to uncover new ways of engaging with heritage as a lived process rather than a static condition. This approach reframes urban cultures as dynamic, interconnected systems where history, collective memory, and imagination converge.
Through a multi-scalar methodology—including cinematic analysis, perception mapping, and speculative design experiments—this research bridges cinematic narratives with architectural and urban design practices. It interrogates recurring urban typologies such as marketplaces, streetscapes, and monumental nodes, examining how these spaces, as portrayed in films, shape collective memory and cultural imagination. Additionally, the study highlights how cinematic storytelling reveals vulnerabilities in urban heritage—pressures from global forces like touristification and commodification—while offering creative possibilities for cultural and spatial resilience.
The goal is to create a Cinematic Spatial Lexicon and Toolkit—a set of analytical and practical tools for urban planners, architects, and researchers. The lexicon will categorize spatial elements and typologies derived from cinematic narratives, offering a framework to decode urban memory and imagination. The toolkit will provide methodologies for integrating cultural and emotional dimensions into urban design, enabling context-sensitive and visionary approaches to urban revitalization.
By focusing on Cairo and Rome, this study contributes to the fields of architecture, urban design, and cinematic studies, positioning cinema as a speculative tool for urban regeneration. It challenges conventional views of urban analysis, encouraging architects and planners to view cities as layered constructs where reality and imagination coexist. Through this lens, Cairo and Rome become laboratories for exploring how cinematic narratives shape the perception, identity, and future possibilities of urban spaces.
In doing so, this research advances theoretical understanding and provides practical solutions for enhancing the cultural and emotional resonance of cities. By decoding cinematic palimpsests, it offers a way to reconnect with the heritage and memory of historic cities while envisioning innovative paths for their future evolution.
| Keywords | Urban Palimpsests ; Urban Heritage ; Cinematic Narratives |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
