City Design in Conversation – On New Construction as the City Design Intervention

Join us online for a second series of City Design in Conversation. Hosted by Dubravka Sekulić, Head of Programme for City Design MA, the series will explore MINORPLANNING; practices of designing the city that support liberation and empowerment of those who live and struggle in the cities.

Refusing abstraction of masterplanning through spreadsheets, we will talk with those whose work shows us a way forward, who work within and outside the system to empower those who already live and work to be in better control of their future, which is always at danger by being erased from large scale urban development and other processes of dispossession.

Against the backdrop of destruction both by war and reconstruction, climate collapse, and intersecting and compound injustices that add further pressure on the existing built environment, it is urgent to rethink how we design cities and what are new forms of spatial practice and spatial practitioners.

At the City Design MA we are committed to holding space to both bold and quiet proposals that challenge disciplinary status quo and can bring the discipline into the future.

Understanding that how we live, individually and collectively, is framed through what we can do in physical space, this urgency is not only professional but societal. Exploring how night life policy planning, repair as liberation, transformation of vacant and underused buildings into lifehouses, moratorium on new construction, civic assemblies and forums design cities otherwise, we will virtually cross different geographies to study.

Together, we are going to explore ways of building more just, equitable cities, which work as a support system for all its inhabitants, both humans and non-humans, to not only survive, but thrive.

Programme of sessions

• 27 November, 1pm GMT – On Public Spatial Literacy with Iva Čukić / Ministry of Space
• 11 December, 1pm – On Policy and Advocacy as Design Interventions with Olympia Kazi
• 18 December, 1pm GMT – On Repair as Liberation with Khaldun Bshara
• 15 January, 1pm GMT – On Moratorium on New Construction as the City Design Intervention with Charlotte Malterre-Barthes
• 29 January, 1pm GMT – On Lifehouse on every block! with Adam Greenfield

You can book onto all sessions here

15 January, 1pm GMT – On New Construction as the City Design Intervention with Charlotte Malterre-Barthes

• Charlotte Malterre-Barthes is an architect, urban designer, and assistant professor at EPFL, where she leads the RIOT design and research laboratory. As an assistant professor of urban design at Harvard University from 2020, Malterre-Barthes started A Global Moratorium on New Construction, an initiative that interrogates current development protocols and provocatively argues for the suspension of all new building activity. A Moratorium on New Construction' was published with Sternberg Press/MIT Press in 2025. Malterre-Barthes’ interests relate to urgent aspects of contemporary urbanisation, material extraction, climate emergency and social justice. She holds a PhD from ETH Zurich on the political economy of food systems and its influence on architecture and urban design, and is a founding member of two activist networks dedicated to equality in architecture.

How to join

• The online sessions will take place virtually on Zoom. The events are free to attend, but you will need to register to guarantee your spot and receive the Zoom link.
• To avoid any technical issues on the day, we recommend you download the latest version of Zoom in advance.
• When it’s time, come back to this page to join the event - you’ll get an email reminder on the day too to remind you of what is happening at which times.

Joining from a country where Zoom doesn't work?
Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Ukraine (Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk regions) have restricted Zoom for regulatory reasons. Please reach out to [email protected] if this affects you.

Other events at the RCA

We are continually adding to our diverse programme of events: conversations on key topics such as funding advice and portfolio development, symposia, exhibitions, open days and more. Many are free and open to the public.

Book your ticket

Book a free online ticket via this link.