This blog post summarizes an upcoming lecture by Dr. Chantal El Hayek of Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture. It situates Marcel Poëte’s work within the history of urban thought and explains why his ideas about the evolutionary nature of cities matter for contemporary urbanism, design, and planning.
The post previews the themes Dr. El Hayek will address at the Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory on Friday, September 19, 2025. It highlights the intellectual lineage from Henri Bergson to mid‑century planning debates.
About the lecture
The talk, scheduled for Friday, September 19, 2025, is titled “Marcel Poëte and the Creative Evolution of Cities.” It is part of the Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory.
The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Chantal El Hayek, a faculty member in Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture.
Dr. El Hayek will present a close reading of Poëte’s role as a pioneering theorist of urbanisme during the interwar period. She will connect his work to later debates in post‑World War II urban planning.
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Presentation focus
The lecture foregrounds how Marcel Poëte reframed the city not as a static object but as a living, temporal process. Drawing on the philosophy of Henri Bergson, Poëte adopted an anti‑positivist view of time that privileges intuition, memory, and continuous transformation over purely measurable models.
Dr. El Hayek will trace Poëte’s methods for mapping urban change and constructing morphological genealogies. These approaches make visible the layered histories and creative adaptations embedded in the urban fabric.
Marcel Poëte, Bergson, and urbanisme
As an interwar theorist, Poëte occupies a critical place in the genealogy of modern urban thought. His synthesis of historical research and philosophical reflection offers an alternative to the technocratic approaches that would later dominate planning discourse.
By integrating Bergson’s anti‑positivist theory of time, Poëte argued that cities must be read through the lens of lived duration. The accumulation of practices, memories, and informal adaptations drives morphological change.
Time, intuition, and the evolving city
Poëte’s emphasis on intuition and temporal depth challenges urban designers and planners to account for continuity as well as change. Rather than imposing fixed typologies, his work encourages practitioners to identify evolutionary patterns—what Dr. El Hayek frames as morphological genealogies.
These patterns reveal how neighborhoods, streets, and public spaces grow organically over decades. This approach helps explain why certain urban forms persist and how historical layers create resilience in the built environment.
Why this matters for urban design today
Poëte’s influence extended into post‑World War II debates in urban planning where questions of reconstruction, continuity, and modernization were pressing. Understanding his contributions gives contemporary professionals tools to balance heritage and innovation.
Dr. El Hayek’s lecture will make explicit connections to present‑day concerns in urban morphology, adaptive reuse, and participatory planning.
Practical implications for planners and architects
Event logistics and disclaimer
The lecture is open to symposium attendees on September 19, 2025.
It will interest scholars and practitioners working in urban design history, urban morphology, and contemporary urban planning.
Final note: The announcement clarifies that the views expressed in the lecture are those of the author, not official positions of Pratt Institute.
Here is the source article for this story: SoA Faculty Dr. Chantal El Hayek Presents Lecture at the Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory
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