This month a new initiative was launched at the Bartlett School of Planning. The ‘Lonely Planner’ series consist of informal talks given by Bartlett Planning PhD students on places they are very familiar with, followed by questions and discussion. The aim of these talks is to learn and discuss about certain places through the speakers’ first-hand knowledge of them. Both their content and format are open to the presenter, who in terms of the former may focus not only on the places themselves, but also on spatial practices and planning policies related to them. Concerning their format, the talks may include descriptions, narratives, stories, etc. using those materials considered adequate, such as texts, poems, images or videos.
The first talk was given on 3rdDecember by research student Kiavash Soltani, on the ‘Cities of Iran’. Following a thread defined by the classification of the 5 selected cities according to their main features (the Environmentally sustainable city, the Religious city, the Cultural city and the Modern city), he provided an informative insight into the characteristics, spatial practices and planning issues of Iran’s urban areas. In short, we were delighted with a polyhedral view of Iranian cities that included Iranian traditional music, ingenious solutions for cooling dwellings and their (mis)interpretation in contemporary architecture, major ancient urban developments to improve the image of the city, Western influences on planning, and spaces for social interaction such as public baths, sport venues or even cars, as Kiarostami brilliantly depicted in his film ‘Ten’.
The next Lonely Planner talk will take place in January, on the Spanish region of Galicia. We look forward to seeing you there.