Research project LANDLABS

Landscape Laboratories
Design Strategies for sustainable and beautiful urban landscapes in the Anthropocene 

The LANDLABS Doctoral Network is based on the hypothesis that the dualism of nature versus cultures, which has been established in Western cultures, has become obsolete in the Anthropocene as there is no nature left which is unaffected by humans. The aim of the Doctoral Network, which is founded by the European Commission through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, is to develop new modes of understanding urban landscapes and new methods to design them based on a deep understanding of the interconnectedness between humans, animals, plants, water, air, soil and technology. Six Doctoral Candidates will investigate these questions parallelly with a site-based approach in Tromsø, Aarhus, Porto, Hannover, Ljubljana and Vienna by applying a research-through-design methodology.

The project’s Kick-Off took place in early May in Hannover where all Doctoral Candidates as well as their supervisor from the universities involved met and visited the site of the Hannover landscape laboratory in Misburg-Anderten where important core concepts such as beauty and conviviality were introduced through on-site lectures. The next physical meeting of the doctoral network is set for November in Porto.