The course concentrates on the conjunction of the cinematic language and the city as it has been played out in a wide range of audiovisual creations, starting with the interwar city symphonies to the present interactive installations (such as those of Jeffrey Shaw, Miguel Chevalier and others). The cinematic language has a distinctive ability to capture and express the spatial complexity, diversity and social dynamism of urban environment. An emphasis is given to how knowledge on the human visual perception strongly affects our representation models and techniques. The course also aims at the creation of an audiovisual archive on contemporary architecture and urban space in Greece.

The lectures address the parallel evolution in both cinematic language and space representation. Categories of cinematic space (architectural space which is the space of the shot, iconic space which is the space of the image frame and the narrative space).

Pre-cinema city representations. The city in early film news reels, the interwar City symphonies and the interwar avant-garde movements. The relation of space and time in experimental cinema and video art. The role of space in the video installations. New concepts of space in contemporary interactive installations.

Students, working in teams, create short audiovisual portraits of urban spaces or specific buildings. A special interest is given to parts of the city that are undergoing major changes.