Do you pull out a paper map when you are lost in a new city, or wish to walk through that wonderful natural history or contemporary art museum you are visiting for the first time? Do you resort to maps to learn new things about a city you already think you know well?

In his lecture, Professor Rasmus Winther will explore urban maps and the way distinct map types represent different kinds of urban spaces (e.g., roads, bike lanes, important buildings) and are used for different purposes. With maps, the mapmaker attempts to build an urban world in which the map user participates. But maps can and are also be made by each one of us, if nothing else as imaginary and mental maps. What is the relation between urban maps forced on / given to us, on the one hand, and those maps, internal as well as external, that we freely and lovingly make of our own urban landscape, on the other hand?

A philosopher, evolutionary/ecological theorist and diving adventurer, Professor Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther cares about the dialectical relations between theory and world, (mega)city and nature, and the psychologically subjective and scientifically objective. The cities with which he is most familiar, and which serve as sources for his case studies are Copenhagen, Paris, Mexico City and San Francisco – but he looks forward to learning much more about Berlin, a city he has thankfully already visited a few times before.

Simultaneous translations are available.

Um Anmeldung wird gebeten. Please register here.

The event series “Across the City – Between Moloch and Utopia” is a cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung.

Während der Veranstaltung werden Video- und Bildaufnahmen für die Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin angefertigt. Mit Ihrer Anmeldung stimmen Sie der Veröffentlichung zu nicht-kommerziellen Zwecken zu.

During the event, pictures will be taken for the public relations of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. With your registration you agree to the publication for non-commercial purposes.