The Arts and Crafts of the City

In Osaka the theme of the city has been faced from the point of view of the architectonic organization, its design, its vertical profile and its horizontal expansion. We wondered: what is the sense of the city today, in the East and in the West? What is the meaning of its perception? The techniques and crafts, all the visual and plastic arts, represent an important contribution in making the city. In the Proceedings we enounce the features, per exempla; we discover the relationship between the ancient and the contemporary world; you feel the art of architecture and urbanism also taking a metaphorical look, transforming the forms from their reality and visibility in other realities, more hidden. The shapes of the city could well replace the appearance and encourage other looks and perceptions, promoting interesting passages from the reality to the artificial and viceversa. The Japanese and Chinese urban universe have offered a rich and useful field of analysis. But how do you change the model of the city in the current post-modern and post-industrial transformation? Think of metropolitan landscapes, the vertical gardens in the new architectures, or the latest ecofriendly plannings. These are the recurring themes of the workshop with various descriptions and some possible solutions.