The Invisible Cities
a.r.t.e.s. forum 2026
9. – 10. Juli 2026
The a.r.t.e.s. forum 2026 will take place on 9 July in the Neuer Senatssaal, located in the University of Cologne’s main building. This year’s forum, titled The Invisible Cities, explores forms of urban invisibility across past, present, and future.
At a time marked by global transformations, such as climate change and the expansion of digital infrastructures, the city emerges as a crucial site for understanding. Bringing together six scholars from fields including public history, design, philosophy, American studies, art history, and architecture, the forum is structured around three panels, devoted to invisible aspects of cities in past, present, and future.
The first panel, Past, explores forgotten and erased urban spaces, examining how their traces shape memory, cultural histories, and the ongoing interpretation of cities. The second panel, Present, examines cities as submerged images and affective structures, shaping perception, orientation, and embodied experience in the present urban environment. The final panel, Future, turns to how urban futures are imagined, materialised, and contested through narratives, infrastructures, and their relation to lived realities.
By bringing together a wide range of disciplines and temporalities, the forum seeks to deepen our understanding of how forms of urban invisibility shape the ways in which cities are remembered, experienced, and imagined. (All talks will be in English.)
The day will conclude with a Board Game Night at the Allerweltshaus (Geisselstraße 3–5, 50823 Cologne), featuring a variety of games, all of which explore the theme of the city in creative ways. Open to all, the event offers an informal setting to engage and connect with participants of the a.r.t.e.s. forum.
In addition to the conference, this year’s forum is also offering a diverse program of side events across Cologne on the following day, July 10.
Programm
Thursday, 9 July
Conference
Neuer Senatssaal, Main Building, University of Cologne (Albertus-Magnus-Platz 1, 50931 Cologne)
10:00 - 10:15 | Welcome |
Panel I: Past |
|
10:15 – 10:45 | Gendering the Invisible City: Women, Work, and Urban Community in the Late Middle Ages |
10:45 – 11:15 | Memoria in Urban Space: Tombs and Funerary Chapels in Early Modern Naples |
11:15 – 11:45 | Moderated Conversation |
11:45 – 12:00 | Coffee Break |
Panel II: Present |
|
12:00 – 12:30 | Foreign, Unpossessed Places: A Phenomenology of Urban Invisibility |
12:30 – 13:00 | Actualising Spaces: Experimental Approaches to the Invisible City |
13:00 – 13:30 | Moderated Conversation |
13:30 – 15:00 | Lunch Break |
Panel III: Future |
|
15:00 – 15:30 | Narrating Otherwise: Architecture in the Green Transition |
15:30 – 16:00 | Redemptive Rurbanity? Scripting Futures for the Urban Health Crisis |
16:00 – 16:30 | Moderated Conversation |
16:30 – 17:00 | Closing and Further Program Information |
19:00 – 22:00 |
Board Game Night |
Friday, 10 July
Accompanying Events at Various Locations Across Cologne
13:00 – 14:30 | Mit der Kölner U-Bahn in den Atombunker? |
15:30 – 16:30 | 2,000 Years of Living Together |
17:30 – 18:30 | Stromspaziergang |
Participation is free of charge. Registration is required for the side events.
The a.r.t.e.s. forum 2026 is organised by Alessandra Basti, Israel García Avilés, Annika Häberlein, Gian Marco Hölk, Moritz Nicklas, and Alexander Rüter.
The program is realized with support of the RheinEnergieStiftung; Stromspaziergang is funded by the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne.