The Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO), of which the University of the Witwatersrand is a partner, is participating in the Cities Exhibition at the inaugural 2017 Seoul Biennale on Architecture and Urbanism which runs from 2 September to 5 November 2017. The Gauteng city-region is the only South African city represented in the exhibition and will be exhibiting in the Dongdaemun Design Plaze designed by the late Zaha Hadid.
The GCRO exhibition, entitled “Shifting Borders and Building Bridges”, explores the making, shifting and bridging of urban borders. In recent years the continued relevance of international borders is still apparent and how these affect the lives of people in different places. While political borders remain as pertinent as ever, this exhibition examines kinds of “urban borders” in the context of the Gauteng City-Region.
The exhibition observes these urban borders through four perspectives: spatial, social, institutional, and resource via four interactive story maps. Each story draws on a combination of previous research and new innovative content including videos, interactive visualisations and experimental maps. Using touchscreens and tablets, visitors can scroll through each story map or play with the live maps and visualisations.
Centered on the thematics of the Ten Commons, the Seoul Biennale is organised along two major sections: exhibitions installed during the Biennale, and the continuous research and development activities of the Seoul Lab. The exhibitions include Thematic and Cities Exhibitions, which showcases the most innovative initiatives occurring in cities around the world. The Seoul Lab manages the Live Projects Seoul, International Design Studio, Mapping the Commons project, Film and Video Program, Information Platform, workshops and other programs that engage public participation.
Contact GCRO, Tel 011 717-7280, info@gcro.ac.za
