What is the human being’s place in our contemporary cities? Jan Gehl, founder and partner of the Gehl Architects office, owes his international renown to the creation of the “Stroget” pedestrian streets of Copenhagen in the late 1960s. On April 14, he will meet the philosopher of the urban Thierry Paquot at the Maison du Danemark in Paris. This Arkitektur #2 conference follows a first session in 2014 dedicated to La ville généreuses bringing together around a table the architect and photographer Jens Lindhe, the Danish architecture critic Karsten R.S. Ifversen and the French architect of the Berges de Paris Franklin Azzi. This year, at the heart of this new Franco-Danish encounter: the interaction between users and their built environment. This subject is based on the study of the future of urban spaces keeping in mind that they will house over 80% of the world’s population by 2050. The two thinkers will share their viewpoints with, as references, their respective works, Cities for People (Island Press, 2010) and Désastres urbains. Les villes se meurent aussi (La Découverte, 2015). This evening of reflection will end on 18 April 2015 with the projection of The Human Scale, a documentary questioning the different forms of mobilities of the 21st-century city.•

New Road, Brighton. (© Gehl Architects)

Herald Square, New York. (© DOT)

Times Square, New York. (© DOT)

Maison du Danemark : 142 avenue des Champs-Elysées – Paris 8e.