Let´s talk wild!

Untamed, fierce, undomesticated, feral, uncivilized, passionate, uncontrolled…

There is a plethora of synonyms and different connotations for the term "wild." In this seminar, we wanted to discuss the term and its different meanings, historical context, etymology, depictions, instrumentalization, future shifts in meaning and the possibilities they might entail. In urban design we would refer to quite a few urban settings or phenomena as wild. Leftover space (fully taken over by vegetation) as well as strange arrangements of typologies (caused by unplanned growth) or unfamiliar interpretations of programming might be filed into that category.

How are these spaces perceived? And why do we use this term to describe a condition? To think of something wild as something untamed that had better be controlled, seems to be a natural line of thought in our society. Wild structures often have a negative aura: worthless, needless, rather in need of an upgrade. Our perception of wildness is closely linked with societal relationships to nature and existing power structures, always linked to notions of contact and control. But what if our relationship with wildness changed? Will wild leftover spaces soon win medals for being the necessary booster for a stagnant biodiversity? How do concepts of wildness influence the way we think and work as designers and urban planners? Which role does it play for other disciplines? Are others also brainstorming and researching about wildness? The seminar was conceived as a combination of roundtable talks and an individual mapping task.

Throughout the semester, we hosted three talks with experts from different fields, tackling the term "wild" from various perspectives. In each roundtable session, we focused on one synonym for "wild," each steering the discussion into a slightly different direction. Meanwhile, the students had the task to find structures in the urban or rural fabric that they perceived as wild, reflect on the indicators that brought them to that assessment and why they perceived them as negative or positive. After picking an aspect of “wild”, they had to document their research, findings and observations concerning this aspect in a mapping or infographic.