Every city aims to put its “best foot forward”, or show its best face to the world. But how can this be achieved, and is the literal term of showing a vibrant, modern and exciting face though architecture and engineering, as important as the figurative, in terms of the brand of the city and the way in which it is perceived and affected through news and narrative?
This week on Metropolist, we shift our attention to the literal and figurative face of cities. The levers and influencers that ultimately are the outward facing essence, look and brand of an entire city or city region.
In studio this week, Hilary Alex joins as we discuss the competition redesign the Naspers Centre on Cape Town’s foreshore. The competition, which is open to South African designers from all disciplines, calls for design concept proposals to reimagine the exterior facade of the 26-storey building. It was launched in early November 2013 and submissions close on 28 February 2014.
Also in studio, our correspondent on architecture, Henry Abosi, joins the conversation.
A good read in the lead up to the show would be Keeping up appearances by Pamela Hellig, sharing perspectives on the face of a city from a tourism perspective.
Listen to all the podcasts of previous shows over here.
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