World Novel – The Dream of the urban Space

1. World Novel – The Dream of the urban Space Presentation at the conference „Poetry meets Science“ ESOF Turin 5.7.2010

2. An international Project • From the planimetric to the poetic urban Space. • Development of a „Poetry of the urban Space“. • Concentration on urban Space of Towns. • Peculiarities of a town, the Big in the Small, the Distant in the Near. • Infrastructure and Everyday Commodities – Transformation in literary, poetic short texts. • The Town gets part in a World Novel – by Artists and by Laymen. • The Novel creates in turn impulses for the Town Planning.

3. Concept in short The urban space is a planned space, which is being went through every day, in which we live. During the last decades we have been pampered by modern comforts, which we cannot think away from our modern life in town: – trains, metros, streets, infra structures, housing develompents give comfort. – in master plans developments are governed, future arrangements are prepared. – city maps are available easily by internet and mobile phones. That is not all! • People develop unordinarities in their everyday life in town, nonrecurring things, the new in the known and the known in the new. • People are not only the doers ( in a poietic sense) but also the dreamers (poetic disposed). • The project contributes its part how the urban space of the town can be developed, devised, experienced as a poetic space.

4. Strategy: the Image • The image of the Town • The everyday‘s image of the Inhabitant • The cultural image • The „synthetic“ travelling image • Public spaces as „Figures of Landscape“ • At the same time formations of Society

5. The poetic Town • Reflective creation of the public Space • Projective creation of the public Space • Imaginary creation of the public Space

6. World Novel: Example SAO PAULO One of the world mega cities is Sao Paulo. The six impressions illustrate a text contribution from the 1920ies. source: Blaise Cendrars, Poésies complètes, Vol 1, Nouvelle édition, édition Denoel, Paris, 2005 From: Feuilles de route Sao Paulo, S. 227-233. The translation is a concept, not authorised. Photos WORLD_DRIVES November 2008

7. SAO PAULODebout 1 Impression 1: Arosen just now The night is running away The day dawns A window is being opened A man is poking out and trolling Shirtsleeved he is overlooking the whole world The wind is mumbling soft like a humming in cranium

8. SAO PAULOLa ville se réveille 2 Impression 2: The town awakens A workday – the first trams chatter over A Man sells newspapers in the centre of a square He is fighting with the huge papers, beating like wings, and he enacts a kind of ballet just for his own, accompanying himself with guttural sounds like STADO...ERCIO...EIO A hooting concert answers him And the first cars flit over at full throttle

9. SAO PAULOKlaxons électriques 3 Impression 3: Electrifying hooting Here is no league for noise Like in all new countries Joy of life and entrepreneurial spirit are shown By hooting and clanking of exhaust pipes

10. SAO PAULOMenu frétien 4 Impression 4: Fish Pan The sky is in a deep blue The wall on the other side is in a panging white colour The blazing sun burns on my head A black woman on a small terrasse is frizzling smal fishes on a rechaud which is a piece of an old biscuit mender box Two black children suck on a sugar crane caulis

11. SAO PAULOPassage 5 Impression 5: Passage The wall in lacquer of the PENSION MILANESE looms into my window I am looking on a part of the Avenue SAO JOAO Trams Cars Trams Tram-Trams Trams Trams Yellow mules bound in a threesome draft midget chariots Over pepper shrubs in the Avenue the huge advertising plate of the CASA TOKIO is looming The sun is flickering in varnish colour

12. SAO PAULOSaint Paul 6 Impression 6: SAO PAULO I am admiring that town Sao Paulo is my heart Here is no tradition No preconception Neither old nor new The only what counts is a crazy appetite this absolute confidence this daringness this work this effort this speculation, the ten houses which are blasting out of the soil per hour let – in all styles: bizzare in a blasting way nice big small northerly southerly egyptian in a yankee way cubistic Without ifs and buts following the statistics, which foresee a future Comfort helpfulness added value attraction for the big immigration All countries All people I love that The two or three old remainig portuguese houses gleam in a blue porcelain

13. Every town has its place in the big oversea luggage, which accommodates piece for piece of the World Novel. It can be taken on a travel, but also being remedied for a time to be inspected. An always new invention of the World Dispose the apparatchic Activate the body as a sound board Become a butterfly, or a fool Create the poetry of the public space

14. The most important effects: • The human body as a sound board for the public space of a town. Town gets „palpable“. • The peri-urban communication of the developing and of the result open the eyes for surprises and for rememberings. This produces a productive eagerness. • Phantasy, day dreams, thoughts, rememberings, knowledge: the homo poeticus gets active. • The results as mosaic stones in the fund of the world novel.

15. Contacts • is an International Network registered at the Chamber of Commerce of Canton Zurich as Non-Profit Association, affiliated Institute of IB-University Berlin. • stimulates cultural projects promoting the image of World Society in culture and arts of specific groups and nations • builds bridges between Science and Culture A special website for the events is under construction: http://www.swo.de/tvrstart.html Address: WORLD_DRIVES association Aff. Institute of IB-University Berlin cultural projects Mühlebachstrasse 35 CH-8008 Zürich www.ib-hochschule.de www.culturprospectiv.ch Project Concept and Direction: Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Meier-Dallach Prof. Dr. h.c. Uli Rothfuss