Mission
It is often said that cities are the greatest creation of humankind. One of the reasons they are so interesting is because they reflect the condition of humanity so expressively. While this expression is embodied in the buildings and open spaces, it is often invisible to the naked eye. Urbancontents.berlin was created with the purpose of helping you see these hidden meanings in the urban space. Berlin is the city that inspires this mission. The relevance of its message and the vividness of its mirror make it an exceptional place to explore the built environment as a picture of our civilization.
Urbancontents.berlin is a personal project
My name is José. I came from Lisbon to Berlin in 2007 to work as an architect. With time, I realized that working in planning and building was not the sole thing I wanted to do with the rest of my professional life. So, I went “back to school”, completing a master’s degree in urban design. The idea was to pursue a long love of mine: cities.
Urbancontents.berlin is the result of this shift. So, lots of passion is invested here. Passion for the built environment, for Berlin, for learning, and, most importantly, passion for passing it on.
My perspective on the built environment
I believe that talking about architecture should most strongly focus on sociocultural dimensions. Even though in my architecture studies I was trained under the perspective of architects as authors of works (of art), I prefer to look at the whole built environment as the result of many forces in a wider context. I do acknowledge the autonomy of architecture in its esthetical/artistic role, but I primarily understand it as the engineering of social (well)being.
Built environment education / Baukultur
I wrote my master’s thesis about the aspects of built environment education and culture in guided tours (in German, Baukultur). Built environment education refers to teaching about architecture and related disciplines to non-experts, having sociocultural development in mind. While it is more often practiced with young people, I’m convinced that bringing it to more adults is also important. So, the ultimate goal for UCBln is to contribute to more sustainable cities around the world, through individuals that are more knowledgeable of their surroundings, increasing their appreciation, their feeling of belonging, and then hopefully their proactiveness. Of course that, on the road there, I’m just happy if you enjoy the moments that I craft, and enrich your relationship with the city.
Urbancontents.berlin is a work in progress
I started this project with a particular format and theme: guided walks about the tenements of Berlin. I saw that there is a big cultural gap between how significant the old apartments buildings are for Berliners and what they know about them. So, I’m working on this large set of walks for some time, and it will take me some years to complete. In the meanwhile, I also started doing private research about single tenement houses, which complements my research. Under this topic of the tenements, I also plan to offer workshops and seminars in the future. And one day the moment will come to expand to others time periods and typologies.