Urban geographer Matthew Gandy's film 'Natura Urbana: The Brachen of Berlin' explores the spontaneous explosion of diverse wild landscapes in the abandoned urban spaces of Berlin during the post-war period. Emerging from war-time destruction, economic malaise, and geopolitical division, these empty sites evolved into laboratories for botanists, artists, and ordinary people seeking respite from the city.

In this panel talk, Matthew Gandy joins landscape architect Alistair Kirkpatrick, artist Sarah Lynch and Uro Publications' Maitiú Ward to discuss Gandy's film and recent book 'Natura Urbana: Ecological Constellations in Urban Space' (MIT 2022), and the role spontaneous plants play in the urban environment.

Matthew Gandy is a geographer, urbanist, and cultural critic. He was born in Islington, North London, and is Professor of Geography at the University of Cambridge. He previously taught at University College London where he was Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory.

Alistair Kirkpatrick is a landscape architect and university lecturer. He has had a varied career over the last 20 years, working in the disciplines of botany, garden design and ecology focusing on Melbourne indigenous vegetation.

Sarah Lynch is currently based in Naarm (Melbourne) and works primarily across digital and analogue photography, video and installation. Lynch’s most recent work examines the diversity of the botanical world and the relationship between plants, people, and the ecosystems they inhabit.

This event was produced in partnership with artists Daniella Ruffino and Sarah Lynch and Bookshop by Uro, with support and sponsorship by the Yarra City Council and Yarra City Arts. This event took place at Composite Moving Image, Collingwood Yards.