VIRTUAL London.
Abstract
In April 2020, many residents fled the cities of frenzied New York and old town London. Was the city dying in a time of recalibration? Those were real questions. Today, the Chelsea Hotel has reopened. Oxford Street is back in business. Subways, the Tube, and commuter trains are full, sidewalks brimming, cultural/educational institutions humming and in-person. Life wills to live. Our bodies and spirit will to live. Nature wills to live. Some, but not all cities will to live. According to Arthur Schopenhauer, “will” is a mindless, aimless, non-rational impulse at the foundation of our instinctual drives, and at the foundational being of everything. Those cities with the will to live are what we call the “essential cities” of today. But what specifically makes for an Essential City? The answer may lie in a city’s driving and relentless self-sense of purpose. There needs to be the challenge for the ambitious, the opportunity, the resources and support, the density, critical mass, the happenstance, the history, and the urban space and form. There needs to be a stage for the struggle, the experience, the joy to play out, and the victory to be had, or not. The pins need to be set and ready for a full strike, or at least a spare. Essential Cities have endured many episodes of crisis, doubt, abandonment. New York, London, and others, struggle daily with these existential conditions, crashing at times, thriving and joyful at others, and ultimately demonstrating that vital, and absolute, will to live.
Kenneth Conzelmann – Born and raised in the NYC area to German immigrant parents, Ken has lived in the West Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan since 1987. An architect, he serves on the faculty of City Tech and maintains a small collaborative architectural practice with urban and rural projects. He holds a BArch from NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ) and a GradDipl (MArch) from The AA (The Architectural Association, London). Ken spends time and energy tinkering at his forest cabin in Greene County upstate NY where ideas can be fleshed out and tested, in fresh air.
Tea Khabelashvili – Born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, Tea received her AAS in Architectural Technology from City Tech in 2020. Before moving to NYC she lived and worked in Essen, Germany working with engineers on major power infrastructure projects. Thea also holds a BS in Psychology from I.J. Tbilisi State University in Tbilisi. She enjoys spending time in the mountains, climbing, and practicing archery
Christian Camacho – Born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey to Bolivian and Ecuadorian parents. His youth as a graffiti artist in the streets of Elizabeth and Newark in the mid-2000’s enabled him to view Architecture from a peculiar lens. He holds an AAS degree from City Tech, BArch from The City College, and MArch II from The Columbia University. Chris is a Project Architect at System Architects in NYC and simultaneously teaches various courses at City Tech as an adjunct lecturer. He enjoys helping students with their designs as well as drawing and cycling.