Situace#1 - Brownfields : What could be the potentials of a « Performative Turn » in urban transformation practices ?

Publication du "Golden Text" pour le premier numéro de la revue tchèque Situace

« The concept of performativity is used equivocally in philosophy. In the philosophy of language, it addresses the implementation of a speech act (Austin, Searle), in the theory of action, the achievement of an act, in art and aesthetics, the presentation of an art action (performance art, action art), in ritual theory, the « liminal » process of transition (Turner), in theater studies, the enactment of a « drama » in « aesthetic » co-presence (Fischer-Lichte) ». Dieter Mersch lists in his quotation the foundations of the Performative Turn. It is a theoretical breath of fresh air that allowed for the emergence of innovative concepts in many disciplines such as linguistics (Austin), anthropology (Turner), philosophy (Derrida), arts (Féral), sociology (Goffman), theater (Schechner), dance (Halprin) and gender studies (Butler) from the notion of "performativity" between the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s. The experimental research I have been conducting for several years aims to bring out a Performative Turn in our disciplines of city planning and transformation, as an extension of that turn - today. For this article, I therefore propose to illuminate the various topics that make up this first issue from concepts and experiments that arise from this hypothetical Performative Turn in our practices and processes of city transformation. The idea is to orient new possibilities and new ways of apprehending the stakes and problems of urban transformation from what the « performative » can do. We will therefore explore the various topics of this issue, "Borders and borderlands", "Temporary Use", "Transdisciplinarity" and "Meanwhile projects" from this idea, illustrated by concepts and their experimentations in concrete situations of transformation projects.