Event

The Human Scale

The Human Scale questions our assumptions about modernity, exploring what happens when we put people into the center of our equations. For 40 years the Danish architect Jan Gehl has systematically studied human behavior in cities. His starting point was an interest in people, more than buildings in what he called Life Between Buildings. What made it exist? When was it destroyed? How could it be brought back? This led to studies of how human beings use the streets, how they walk, see, rest, meet, interact etc. Jan Gehl also uses statistics, but the questions he asks are different. For instance: How many people pass this street in a 24-hour period? What percent of those are pedestrians? How many are driving cars or bikes?

How much of the street space are the various groups allowed to use? Is this street performing well for all its users? Jan Gehl made his first studies in Italy and later he inspired the planning of Denmarks capital, Copenhagen, for 40 years. His ideas inspired the creation of walking streets, the building and improvements of bike paths and the reorganization of parks, squares and other public spaces throughout this city and in many other cities in the Nordic region. Around the world cities like Melbourne, Dhaka, New York, Chongqing and Christchurch are now also being inspired by Gehls work and by the developments in Copenhagen.

Time length: 77 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxywJRJVzJs

Short Film: Worldcraft: Bjarke Ingels (Future of Storytelling 2014)
World-renowned architect Bjarke Ingels challenges himself and all of us to think beyond the status quo and dream big. Why shouldnt you be able to ski down a power plant? He refers to his projects as promiscuous hybridsthey combine seemingly disparate elements and turn fiction into fact. This film was commissioned by Melcher Media and their Future of Storytelling.