Dialogues
Prof. Matthew Gandy
28th July 2021
ABOUT
Prof. Matthew Gandy
In this dialogue series, Prof Pratyush Shankar (Dean, SEDA Navrachna University, Vadodara) engage in a conversation with Prof Matthew Gandy (Professor, Dept. of Geography, University of Cambridge). Through these dialogues, we explore the idea of the city and its construct of nature. Themes ranging from infrastructure technologies, urban transformation and imagination, and the social construct of nature, are discussed at length in this conversation. What is the larger idea of nature in a city, and how do we find conceptual frameworks to engage in a meaningful debate are the questions addressed in this series.
Prof. Matthew Gandy is a cultural, urban, and environmental geographer with particular interests in landscape, infrastructure, and more recently bio-diversity.
The historical scope of his work extends from the middle decades of the nineteenth century to the recent past. His research ranges from aspects of environmental history, including epidemiology, to contemporary intersections between nature and culture including the visual arts.
His book Concrete and clay: reworking nature in New York City (MIT Press, 2002) was winner of the 2003 Spiro Kostof award for the book within the previous two years "that has made the greatest contribution to our understanding of urbanism and its relationship with architecture".
He is currently writing a research monograph on bio-diversity and urban nature and is Principal Investigator for the ERC Advanced Grant Rethinking urban nature.
Read more on Prof. Matthew Gandy's work at here.