The origins
The beginnings: the invention of the imagined city
Urban imaginaries Research is a theory of social perceptions, which emerges from the studies born in philosophical, semiotic, and psychoanalytic fields, but which establishes a new urban perspective, based on what we call “citizen urbanism”, generated not from architects but from citizens, living their daily lives. Therefore, our studies don´t describe the physical city, but the imagined one. Seeing, smelling, hearing, walking, stopping, remembering, representing are attributes that must be studied in each city.
Armando Silva has developed a globally recognized methodology to study them. All studies included in this platform were carried out from it. In this interview, he talks about those origins.
The founding texts
Here you can download the founding texts on which the methodology developed by Armando Silva is based.
Imagined cities
In 2010, “Urban Imaginaries” decided to create the flagship program “Imagined Cities”, an image and research brand that is registered in Colombia, Spain, and Mexico. This was a contribution from Armando Silva, the creator of the “Urban Imaginaries” methodology. Several publications were made, and they described the concepts and guidelines of the process to study an “imagined city.” In this way, the program was set in different countries in other geographical contexts, which led to an alliance with cities in Europe and the United States.
The files and documents from the first stage of the research can be found in:
You can navigate throughout the platform in three different ways.
1
City Collection. You can click on the name of a city, and you will be directed to the available materials.
2
Elements. In the search box you can write the key word or author, editor o collaborator’s name and you will be directed to the available materials.
3
Labels. You can click on any of them and you will be directed to all the classified material.