The arts & the Urban Life

Is the new number of the journal On the w@terfront (vol45, nr 1) right now in pre-publish acces

In “Contemporary ephemeral artistic experiences in the urban space. The ephemeral art as a catalyst of urban life“, Lucila Urba,  PhD. Architect and lecturer at the ETSA Technical University Madrid, explores the role of

“Ephemeral urban art as expression of collective thought stream is a source of community projects in which citizens can retrieve a “City experience. The profusion of different manifestations of ephemeral art in cities around the world since the beginning of the 21st century is having consequences on urban space both locally and globally. One of them is the transformation of the urban landscape, which is considered a visible stage in urban regeneration projects. In addition to the physical transformation there are also changes in the urban dynamics, the effects of the interventions have consequences beyond the change of image of the urban space. The local or even global socio-economic effects of the transformations linked to the ephemeral art are increasingly evident. This article relates the origin and development of different urban artistic manifestations and reflects on their consequences for urban life as a tool for physical and social transformation“.

 Mónica Bellido, artist from México, and German Herrera, sociologist from Colombia, righnow following the Master in Urban Design :Art, City, Society in the University of Barcelona, invite us to “explore a different part of the city” the area of the Besòs river in Barcelona. This article is a visual proposal aiming to show interesting sites in a peripheral area. As the authors say

” Traditionally the area near the river Bésos has been looked only as an industrial and residential zone, a place without touristic attractions, nevertheless that has been a mistaken idea because the area has a lot of interesting places to be discovered and enjoyed by the public.  The area is composed by several districts: from Sant Andreu (up north), Bon Pastor, San Marti and the neighbour district of San Adriá, all of witch have an importance on showing how the city has been growing and changing on the past few years.

These images are an invitation to explore a new side of Barcelona, witch provides a much more calm and relaxing atmosphere, as well as interesting neighbourhoods and landscapes from the ones we are use to visit when we plan to travel around the city”