Res Urbanae

The EU-funded project “RES URBANAE – Perspectives on Cities in Reconstruction” is related to the current construction and planning activities in two cities - Brest and Dresden - whose history has some similarities: they were destroyed by the bombing raids of the Second World War and then rebuilt in a completely different form and according to specific time constraints. The project offers an unprecedented look at urban history, particularly that of reconstruction, against the backdrop of a world characterized by both change and the resilience of cities. It is about examining the way in which the destruction of urban space subsequently gave rise to creative approaches - be they architectural, urban planning or artistic - and, moreover, observing what role the world of images and imagination plays in the (re-) Construction of urban identity plays.

This exhibition shows the works of students that were created as part of an academic exchange between the Faculty of Architecture at the Technical University of Dresden, the Institut de Géoarchitecture of the Université de Bretagne Occidentale in Brest and the Faculty of Architecture at the Vysoké Učení Techniké Brno. The resulting considerations made it possible to initiate the transdisciplinary EU project ResUrbanae on the topic of cities in reconstruction, which will run until 2024. The exhibition was already shown in Brest in January 2023 at the Maison des Projets.

At the start, students from the three universities visited Brest and Dresden to understand the architectural and urban planning challenges that these cities face. Building on this, they dealt with the following topics in various courses.

The first part of the exhibition shows a comparative examination and mapping of the history of Brest and Dresden over a longer period of time and highlights the similarities in the architectural and urban development of both cities.

The second part of the exhibition develops perspectives for the future of urban districts in Brest. The panels and models on display show, on the one hand, possible redesigns of the former Pontaniou prison in the Recouvrance district, and on the other hand, the redesign of the interior block areas in the city center, which was rebuilt after 1945. Both themes raise the broader question of the possibilities for urban renewal in the heart of Brest.

This work is intended to be exploratory. They are a consequence of the dynamics initiated by the city and the Brest metropolitan region in recent years. They illustrate the development potential of the city of Brest in an ongoing process of change.

Opening: 14.12.2023, 7 p.m