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ICSUD - International Centre for Studies in Urban Design The International Centre for Studies in Urban Design was founded in Florence in 1986 by a group of professors and lecturers in Architecture from the Universities of Florence, Darmstadt, Stuttgart and Nottingham. The Centre, which has its headquarters in Florence, proposes to promote the exchange of information, cultural relations and international co-operation between all those who, on different levels, with different specific interests and in different fields of activity, deal with the problems of the contemporary city and the design of urban space. The Centre was created because its founders realized that there was an urgent need to approach the problems of the contemporary extending project experimentation, particularly in relation to the current transformations connected to the processes of post-industrialism, which will bring about macroscopic changes in the urban layout as well. The inadequacy of the consolidated instruments of urban planning on the one hand, and of architectural design of individual projects on the other, today places the field of "urban design" in a very central position; studies in urban design, which have undergone greater development in the countries of Northern Europe, as their field of research, tend towards the identification of models of design capable of setting off processes of urban requalification and recovering the features of a new identity for city space. Since it is neither simple urban planning nor architectural design in its most limited approach, urban architecture is a field of study that is open to contributions from many disciplines, and it will benefit from the work not only of architects, but of all scholars and professionals operating in all the different disciplinary sectors dealing with the problems of man and the urban community. The Centre seeks to catalyze interests and relations between scholars and professionals working at a research level, in University teaching and in professional design practice. Since it was first founded, the Centre has contacted many European Universities and has developed close relations with more than two hundred teachers. Currently, the Centre is extending its network of contacts to Eastern Europe and the United States. Briefly, the objectives of the Centre can be summarized in the following practical programmes: - the institution of an information centre which collects data and documentation on the activities of persons involved in the field of urban design on a level of research, University teaching or professional practice to serve as a "data bank" for the consultation of all concerned; - the promotion of initiatives and events which favour encounter, comparison and exchange between University teachers, scholars and professionals. The Centre is administered by an International Board of Directors with nine members; the scientific programmes are drawn up by a Scientific Committee, consisting of eleven members from six different countries. The Centre has also nominated single co-ordinators for the countries and geographical areas involved in its activities. |
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