Last April we launched on our website a national competition for short films, entitled "Beyond the Ideal City", as a part of the "Past Present and Future of Public Space" international research activity, involving art, architecture and urban design, in partnership with Cineteca di Bologna and Ottagono.com. The deadline for submitting proposals was June 3, 2014.

According with the competition announcement, we were planning to award the winner on June 25, during the cinema session of the "Past Present and Future of Public Space" international conference, that took place in Bologna, June 25-27. We created a Facebook page for this event, look here to get more news of what happened!
But just few days before the conference, while we were watching the submitted proposals and discussing with the jury, we received the offer from Cineteca di Bologna to include our competition in the next "Visioni Italiane" [Italian Visions] Festival, a well-known Italian competition for short films. That was really a great offer for us!
Together with Ottagono.com we decided to postpone the call for proposals, as a brand new section of the Cineteca Festival, entitled "Urban Visions | Beyond the Ideal City".

The international conference "Past Present and Future of Public Space," which will take place next June 25-27 in Bologna (Italy), is getting closer! But there is still time to contribute.
We are very proud to announce that City Space Architecture in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna and Ottagono.com have just launched a national competition for short films, called "Beyond the ideal city".
Not just words then, but also images, stories and emotions to describe and discuss the Past Present and Future of Public Space. In line with the international academic research project, the main purpose of this competition is to investigate the contemporary city, the connections, intersections and urban activities that take place inside it, seen through complex social issues, contexts and human geographies. Forgetting those seducing shapes of the ideal city, the competition asks to explore the public realm beyond the stereotypes and well-known images of consumerism, looking for hidden aspects that our eyes, deliberately or unconsciously, in the daily experience don't want or cannot see.
The deadline for sending short films is June 3, 2014. No registration fee is required.
On June 25, during the international conference, in a special session at Cinema Europa (via Pietralata 55), the jury will award the winner in front of a large audience, with the "Prize Ottagono.com", worth euro 2,000 in cash. The short film will then be presented and discussed.
The competition announcement (in Italian) can be downloaded HERE (as a .pdf file).

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ART, ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN
Bologna, Italy, 25-27 June 2014

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"Past present and future of public space" is an Italian project, developed as an academic postdoctoral research activity by our President Luisa Bravo during the past two years, at the Department of Architecture, University of Bologna (Italy). It aims to explore new dimensions of public realm and to discuss results of research activities, through a multidisciplinary approach, on public space and related topics, comparing theories and projects with advisors and correspondents from different contexts.
Started in 2012, the project has  involved many international scholars and professionals.
First results were presented and discussed at the Biennale dello spazio pubblico on May 2013 in Rome, during an international session promoted by City Space Architecture and coordinated by our President Luisa Bravo, and then published in a special issue of the open access e-journal "IN_BO. Ricerche e progetti per il territorio, la città e l'architettura", entitled "The public space of education", edited by Luisa Bravo and Claudio Sgarbi. During the Roman session a call for proposals has been launched in order to invite scholars, architects, urban designers, planners, photographers and artists to join the project. 
The research project was then discussed in Bologna, on 9 November 2013 during a symposium and exhibition at Quartiere San Vitale, Municipality of Bologna, promoted by City Space Architecture.
The international conference that will take place in Bologna, next 25-27 June 2014, is intended to be the final result of this research activity, as a large public event.

During the Art City White Night, a special event within “Arte Fiera. International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art”, on January 25, 2014, we presented [The urban lounge and a green view], a collaborative project developed with bAQ, a young group created in Florence by several students from the Faculty of Architecture.
Our installation took place in Via Santo Stefano 7, in the urban core of the city of Bologna, close to the Leaning Towers, within the footprint of 2.5 by 10 meters of two parking spots. From 6:00 pm to midnight we transformed a small outdooor space into a private/public domestic living room and its garden. 
We met many citizens from Bologna and had a fun and pleasant time with them and with our friends, sitting on the sofa or surrounded by the nature. They all shared our vision of a road made for people to meet and socialize, with a very positive attitude and a friendly interest. Thanks you all!

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[To read and download the first edition of our magazine "la Res publica" (in Italian),

click on the image]

[The urban lounge and a green view] is a collaborative event promoted by City Space Architecture together with bAQ, a young group created in Florence by several students from the Faculty of Architecture, with the purpose of acting from the inside heart of the city, exploiting hidden places and establishing an everyday interaction with urban residents and users.
[The urban lounge and a green view] event has been organized for “Arte Fiera. International fair of Modern and Contemporary Art” as a part of the Art City White Night and will take place on January 25, 2014. It has been inspired by the worldwide famous "Parking Day", intended to transform certain parking spots into places of social interaction, highlighting the potential associated to their transformation.