Mobilizing Inter-Mediacies: Reflections on Urban Scenographies in (Post-)Lockdown Cities.

Abstract

Looking around in the cities where we live and work in the Netherlands, and the international cities we connect with through the various media channels we use, we see arrows, circles, points and lines popping up everywhere. They add fugitive inscriptions on pavements, grass, monuments and walls—surfaces that act as canvasses for imagery and writing with ephemeral materials like chalk, tape, paint and light. In this short reflection, we want to take up the challenge to reflect on spatial design and its socio-cultural implications in the midst of uncertainty: a time of radical transformations, experimental solutions and continuous contestations. This situation of inter-mediacy takes shape on the streets of our cities, as well as behind our desks in the process of grasping for knowledge and trying to make sense of what we witness both in our local communities and close surroundings, as well as via the media channels connecting us with cities around the globe.