2017-2018 Colloquium Series


The Tourism Studies Working Group is pleased to announce
 
CULTIVATING AUTHENTICITY IN THE BELLY OF PARIS:
Tourism as Cultural Catalyst for Les Halles

Mark Primack
Architect, Santa Cruz, CA

Friday, March 16, 5:00pm
Gifford Room, 221 Kroeber Hall
University of California, Berkeley

Abstract:
Architecture and tourism purport to enrich and support life, yet both are often viewed as erosive or disruptive of our cultural and social fabric. No one seems to wear the mantle of 'tourist' comfortably, and few welcome 'development'. Fortunately, the eclectic field of Tourism Studies has opened new vistas into the evolving relations of visitor and host, rich and poor, urban and rural, built and biotic, illuminating and focusing many of the key questions and opportunities of our moment. This talk will present 1.) A phenomenological model of ethical touristic practice, 2.) A tentative ontological tool for widening the touristic gaze to admit broader perspectives and deeper imaginaries, and 3.) A specific model for the cultural repatriation of historic urban centers, with tourism deployed as catalyst rather than solution, and as a means to its end.

La Hune Fire. November 2017

Venice canal, circa 1890. Pencil drawing

Pacific Theater. WWII. Pencil drawing

Hotel du Metro, Les Halles proposal 1980. Mixed media

 

Speaker Bio:
Mark Primack is an innovative and visionary architect and an occasional spectator on the playing field of Tourism Studies. As a city council member, planning commissioner and practicing architect in a University/Tourist town, he has experienced the impacts and opportunities- and helped his community absorb or mitigate the influences- of both academic and recreational colonization. He is currently engaged in a conceptual project (DeTourism) aimed at re-purposing the worldwide web of tourist infrastructure to support an increasingly dislocated and transient population. Mark holds degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design and the Architectural Association of London.

 
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