Join us for the first talk in the Architectural History and Theory Seminar Series of 25/26 by Professor Richard Williams.
This lecture will be hybrid. Please book your ticket for attendance in person or online. You will receive access to the online event via email the day before the event.
Abstract
In the demonology of the contemporary city, is there anything more toxic than the expressway? Dividing neighbourhoods, depressing land values, concentrating atmospheric pollutants, the expressway is now increasingly crumbling into the ground. How did we build the expressway world in the first place? And how might we reimagine it now? In this talk Richard Williams explores the global rise and fall of the urban expressway. Drawing on case studies from New York, Seoul, and, particularly, São Paulo’s and its Minhocão (‘Big Worm’), he examines how cities and architectural historians have responded to the legacy of mid-century highway planning.
About Professor Richard Williams
Richard J. Williams is Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of nine books, mostly about the visual culture of cities. His most recent book is The Expressway World (Polity, 2025). He was a British Academy Senior Research Fellow in 2024.
Access
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