Urban Narratives: Graphic Heritage, Photographic Authenticity, and Place Perceptions

Join us for an enlightening multidisciplinary international panel presentation that explores the intersection of graphic heritage, photography, design, and place within urban environments. The diverse talks will delve into how graphic heritage enhances a sense of place across continents, the role of photographic authenticity in design, and the lived experiences shaping urban perceptions. Case studies from global locations, including the UK, China, South Africa, Australia, and Venezuela, will provide insights into the complex interplay between people, place, and identity.

Date: Thursday 7 November
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Venue: LT250 Wilkinson Building G04
Moderator: Leigh-Anne Hepburn

Graphic Heritage Repositioned: Robert Harland
This talk will trace the emergence of urban graphic heritage over the past decade across several continents. It will report on collaboration with NGOs such as UNESCO, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and The David Roche Foundation, exploring how graphic heritage is utilised to enhance a sense of place. Case studies from the UK, China, South Africa, and Australia will be shared on diverse topics such as sport, comedy, food, people and place identity.

Photographic authenticity in design through the medium of urbanity: Yaron Meron
Photography is ubiquitous in design and its use, cultural framing, and societal understanding, continues to change and be recontextualised. Drawing on examples from photographic and design practice from the UK and Australia, this talk discusses concepts around authenticity in photography, by engaging with notions of ‘strangeness’ from otherwise familiar aspects of the urban environment and beyond.

Places: experiences, perceptions and elements that shape them: Gabriela Quintana
Sense of place and place identity are closely linked to people’s lived experiences and perceptions of their urban environment and are part of the foundation of constructing places. This talk will delve into those and pinpoint the elements that shape the meanings people associate with their spaces, thus, turning them into places. For this, we will draw on the findings of a study in Caracas, Venezuela that focused on residents of informal settlements and another in Sydney, Australia that focused on built environment and transport practitioners.

Speaker bios
Dr. Robert Harland is a Reader in Urban Graphic Heritage at Loughborough University School of Design and Creative Arts in the United Kingdom. His research is focused on how graphic objects facilitate the function of cities and urban places in heritage contexts. Having worked extensively in Brazil, China, South Africa, and the UK, he is currently undertaking a Research Fellowship with The David Roche Foundation Curatorial Research and the University of South Australia, where he is utilising graphic heritage to explore Adelaide as a contested colonial city. At Loughborough, he established the Urbanism research theme and currently co-leads The Impact Hub within the Healthy and Innovative Loughborough government-funded Town Deal initiative.

Dr. Yaron Meron is an academic in the Design Lab at The University of Sydney. He teaches, researches and publishes on graphic/communication design, critical design thinking, social design, AI in design education, and photography. He is particularly interested in innovative design methodologies that tackle designer—stakeholder communication. Emerging from 20 years of commercial practice, Yaron uses urban photography as a design device for engaging with place and space.

Dr. Gabriela Quintana Vigiola is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Built Environment at UTS. She holds a PhD in Built Environment (2018), a Master in Urban Design (2008), a Bachelor in Architecture (2004) and a Bachelor in Psychology (major in Social Psychology - 2019). Gabriela is an academic and consultant in urban design and planning with a strong focus on places, policy and project development. Her current research focuses on place-based policies and housing for DFV survivors.

This event will be photographed and/or filmed for promotional and documentation purposes.
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