Lecture by Jessica Pineda-Zumaran [Centro de Investigación en Teoría Urbana y Territorial URBES – LAB, Peru], #7 of the Lecture Series Organizing Architectures: Coloniality
Noticeably, Latin American urban planners, city managers and design professionals often consider urban aesthetics to be trivial and of no consequence to the quality of people’s lives. The virtual absence of aesthetic control and the limited inclusion of aesthetics in design education programmes are evidence of this disregard. This belief is seemingly reinforced by the persistent dismissal, and sometimes contempt, of alternative aesthetics, such as those of self-built neighbourhoods. The urban aesthetics of these places exhibit features that are rather different to those observed in formally built, professionally designed neighbourhoods. This is the result not only of the gradual mixed use of materials and building systems, but also of homeowners’ deliberate selection of colours, shapes, and finishing materials. Arguably, these choices have cultural roots, mostly stemming from Latin American Andean traditions. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital, this lecture reflects on how the professional definition of ‘acceptable’ urban aesthetics can lead to the exclusion of certain communities and even to self-segregation. The lecture then delves into the production and reproduction of aesthetic justice, contrasting this notion with the call to reclaim the right to beauty from Western professional and academic circles in architecture and design. The lecture aims to re-engage the audience in a renewed, multidisciplinary and enriched debate on urban aesthetics in the capitalist era.
8 July 2026
7 – 8:30 p.m.
TU Darmstadt, Schloss
Room: S3 I 13 10