Reimagining Communities in South-East Asia - Asma Mehan
Asma Mehan
Born and raised in Tehran, I completed my PhD in City History and Design at Politecnico di Torino (Italy) and engaged since 2018 as a postdoc fellow associated with the ‘R-Urban Dynamics’ research project, coordinated by Francesca Frassoldati at Politecnico di Torino (Starting Grant, Fondazione San Paolo and F.U.L.L. - Future Urban Legacy Lab.).
My research interests are focused around the intersections between spatial design and the cultural and political definitions of public space, grounded in empirical research in Malaysian urbanization processes. During the residency at ZK/U, I seek to explore the tensions between the ‘village’ legacy and urbanization discourses in Kuala Lumpur as a spin-off of my ongoing co-authored book project. With concerns on ideology and politics of space, and questions like how the ‘village’ claim captivates us and to what extent it is reinvented, a seminar will be organized in Berlin in February 2019 and a short essay in an online open access journal will follow.
