The Martin Centre Research Seminars - 55th Series
Resilience
Throughout history, numerous cities have faced destruction—sacked, shaken, burned, bombed, flooded, starved, irradiated, and poisoned. Remarkably, in almost every case, these cities have risen again like the mythic phoenix. Regardless of the scale of destruction, ranging from a small precinct to an entire city, urban areas rebuild following the devastation. They either return to normalcy in terms of social and economic relations or are repurposed as sites for tourism, education, remembrance, or even myth.
Urban disasters and resilience come in many forms and can be categorised in various ways. The scale of destruction can vary from a single small precinct to an entire city. Disasters can be understood by their causes and their impact on human life. Some large-scale disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, cause widespread disruption and loss of life without physically destroying buildings. Conversely, events like the Gaza War resulted in massive casualties and extensive damage to the built environment. Regardless of the scale and source of these disasters, the psychological injuries are often profound.
In this context, the concept of resilience is complex. Physical reconstruction and emotional and cultural recovery often do not occur simultaneously, and sometimes one overshadows the other. In some cases, selective reconstruction is guided by foreign ideologies that do not align with the public’s interests. Conversely, a disaster can be an opportunity to restore a vibrant local community. Culture also plays a crucial role in this process, as forms such as film, literature, and photography help people make sense of the disaster, discover or establish meanings, and regain a sense of control over their surroundings.
This seminar series seeks to shed light on how cities and their residents manage to be resilient in different configurations of urban disasters. How do they survive and recover after periods of disappointment, collapse, depression, and failure?
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Wednesdays at 1.30pm
Lecture Room 1, Architecture Department, Scroope Terrace and live on Zoom.
Lent Term 2025
January 29 James Delaney (Managing Director, BlockWorks, Chairman, The Block by Block Foundation)
Videogame Urbanism: why architects should take games seriously
Register here: https://buytickets.at/martincentre/1541884
February 5 Navid Pourmohammadreza (Assistant Professor of Iran University of Art and Soore University, Selected Researcher of Cité Internationale des arts, Paris and Villa Gillet institute, Lyon)
Film as a Medium of and a Medium for Resilience
*This seminar will be online only.
Register here: https://buytickets.at/martincentre/1541866
February 12 Ruchit Purohit and Zhuozhang Li
Community Consultation for Quality of Life/ The Cambridge Urban Room
February 19 Zhuozhang Li (Research Associate & Affiliated Lecturer, Cambridge Department of Architecture / CPDA, Jesus College)
The Cinematic City / The Lived City / The Fluid City: (re)mapping contemporary Hong Kong
Register here: https://buytickets.at/martincentre/1541878
February 26 Maryam Imani (Associate Professor of Water Systems Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University)
Resilience: Rethinking Urban Infrastructure Design
Register here: https://buytickets.at/martincentre/1541883
March 5 Irena Bauman (Sir Arthur Marshall Visiting Professor in Sustainable Urban Design 2024-2025, School of Architecture, University of Cambridge)
Distinctive Futures- strategies for resilience
Register here: https://buytickets.at/martincentre/1541890
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More about the Martin Centre Lectures
The Martin Centre Research Seminar Series is one of the longest-running in the field, with the current one being the 54th annual series. The seminar series is hosted and supported by the Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies, the research arm of the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge. The seminars are held every Wednesday during term time at 1.30pm UK time in the Faculty’s lecture room. They are typically well-attended by both staff and students in the department, as well as by members from the University and the wider Cambridge community. You can find out more about the Martin Centre Research Seminar Series on our website and the virtual seminars can be found on YouTube.
Previous lectures are now available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@martincentreresearchsemina3554/videos
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