“The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.“

(Hanna Arendt)

With our program for 2018, entitled A Radical City, A trans focuses with greater precision on radical forms of expression and appearance in social and spatial contexts. It is hoped that a return to the roots (Latin: radix), to the originary, to the experience of extremes, will contribute to an expansion of horizons and a transformation of existing orientations toward life.

What are the roots of radicality, and what do we mean by the “radical city”?

It has been a long time since radical urban utopias were widely discussed. Yet one often reads that urban residents have become radicalized, or that entire urban districts have developed into No Go Zones as a result of radical tendencies.

Generally speaking, radicality can be seen as a catalyst for change. And a retrospective view of such transformations can make radicalism appear inevitable, even conservative.

In this series, the invited protagonists will reflect upon and redefine certain historical and utopian topics. Interrogated in the process in ways that go beyond individual disciplines, and through a variety of artistic approaches and working methods, will be a range of stereotypes, dogmas, and assumptions.

A trans strives to offer a platform to researchers into consciousness and for a multiplicity of approaches to the investigation of experimental tendencies that incorporate contemporary urban practices and identities.

The aim of A trans is therefore to foster the “radical” reorganization of existing beliefs and concepts leading toward artistic-architectural approaches that transcends individual disciplinary boundaries.

The collaborateurs in 2018 A Radical City series will be: Birgit Kjærsgaard (DK), Concha Argüeso (Berlin | ES), Living Room Project Berlin V with Marian Wjnvoord (Berlin | NL), Mareike Lee (Berlin | CAN) und Tomoyuki Ueno (Berlin | JP) and Alexandra Spiegel (Berlin)