Politics and communities of innovation in contemporary China (2016-2019)The research project is built around an ethnography of three makerspaces in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen as well as their respective annual maker faires. These hybrid and dynamic communities exhibit unique technical, commercial and social characteristics. The « bottom-up » study of these spaces (…)
Assessing tools for interdisciplinary research and teaching (2016-2018)The project aims to assess and experiment research tools for the study of the relationship between collective memory, urban space, and design in contemporary cities. It stems from previous empirical and collaborative experiences between PoliTo and EPFL in the study of urban collective memories. By scrutinizing the two (…)
A multidisciplinary study of Beijing, Mexico City and Rome (2015-2017)The research aims to produce a comparative, multidisciplinary study on the impact of UNESCO’s Recommendation on the historic urban landscape (RHUL – 2011), which seeks to integrate conservation and development in urban policies. The research addresses three questions in Beijing, Mexico City and Rome:Which memorial references (…)
Negotiating citizenship and physical form – CeNTO (2015-2017)The project looks at the construction of the “third-generation” of Chinese New Towns that will host another 300 million rural Chinese migrating to urban areas over the next 20 years. Conditioned by certain new key-words promoted by the Chinese government – such as “innovation”, “sustainability”, “inclusive growth” – (…)
A study of the technical, social and political controversies around the 2014-2034 Mumbai Development Plan (2015-2017)This project analyses the Mumbai Development Plan 2014-2034 (MDP 2034) revision and its temporary withdrawal due to an unprecedented public outcry and strong criticism by both, experts and civil society. This event is highly representative of the tensions and conflicts (…)
Containers for housing and re-urbanization of slums, camps & other human settlements in post-disasters contexts: India, Lebanon and Indonesia (2015-2016)Source of financing: ENAC, Seed Money – Incentive for innovative urban researchResearch team: Alain Nussbaumer (ICOM), Yves Pedrazzini (LASUR), Florence Graezer Bideau and Christine Lutringer (IAGS)Recent report: “Rapport de recherche sur la dimension socio-culturelle: l’étude de (…)
An ethnography of cultural bureaucracy in the federalist context (2009-2014)This research aimed to study the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO 2003) in Switzerland, ratified by the Swiss Confederation in 2008.The project identifies the mechanisms for the implementation of the first inventory of living traditions – an oxymoron (…)
Cultural policy in twentieth-century China is the starting point for a series of reflections and projects carried out within the framework of this research group on the processes of heritagization.The links between culture and politics were first explored in the context of a doctoral thesis about Beijing and Shaanxi Province between 1995 and 2000, funded (…)
Overview from the Straits of Malacca (2006-2011)This research project, conducted in collaboration with Mondher Kilani from the University of Lausanne, was part of a reflection on multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism in Malaysia.These reflections focus on the perception and representation of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the three main communities of the Federation (Malay, Chinese (…)