This body of work developed and tested systems that can inform and add to the growing debates within the social, artistic and cultural sectors regarding the need to develop new cultural, social and political geographies for the city as proposed from Henri Lefebvre, to Kevin Lynch and Georgs Simmel.

This research was conducted in Lisbon and Berlin and is a collaboration between Joseph-Lester (RCA), Susanne Prinz (L40 Verine Berlin) and Westerman (SHU) who all curated and contributed to the research outputs. In Lisbon the enquiry explored sites of urban development and decline to consider how we navigate and repurpose the future ruins of the urban environment, bringing together counter narratives and contested histories.

The research was disseminated through exhibitions, city guides, film and a book.

The method adopted in developing the research is grounded in the practice of collaboration as methodological tool and is based on the Guest/Host protocol developed in the SHU Art and Design Research Centre. (See Methods section in the supporting portfolio). This research brought together a group from a range of disciplines from within and without the academy including Architecture, the Arts, Civil Engineering, Law, Physical and Human Geography and Social Anthropology. The Lisbon workshop, hosted by Hangar and led by Westerman and Joseph-Lester was followed by walks designed to establish collaborative partnerships amongst the participants. Six city guides were produced then exhibited alongside a collaborative film and series of research events at The National Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon. The second exhibition at the Gulbenkian Library in Lisbon included archival material from the library’s collection of city guides dating back to the 1890’s. The Trigger Point: Berlin guides followed the same methodology with new interdisciplinary partnerships. Events in Berlin to disseminate were cancelled due to COVID-19.