Architecture and urbanism seem to be weak disciplines, constantly struggling for a better understanding of their nature and disciplinary borders. The huge amount of metaphors appearing in the discourse of both not only reference to their creative nature but also indicate their weakness and the missing piece strengthening their own understanding: a definition of space for architecture and of city for urbanism. But using metaphors in this field implies a problem - though metaphors achieve to bring opposites together, there remains the question how literal they can actually become in order to...

In a positive departure from modernism, the work of the art critic and urbanist Ludwig Hilberseimer offers schemata towards the design for the city itself: its mereological composition. The resonance of parts unfolds to an alternative of a purely contrasting equation of form and content. It reminds us, that when the ground (logos) of the city is defined by its parts (meros), its architecture, the city in turn always also is part of the architecture as its desire. The Mereological City introduces a mereological methodology and contributes to an ongoing discussion...

Under the premise that architecture makes life 'better', architecture is often presented as the 'solution' to social problems, made 'green' when promising sustainable futures, or fetishised as a cultural object for the creation of urban identities. Yet, what is it exactly that links architecture so closely to the pursuit of a good life? How is this link interrelated with crisis and crisis thinking? To what extent do belief systems in architecture influence its capacity to deal with crises? Carolina Crijns not only explores the transformative potential in radically rethinking architecture's...

Focusing on a private collection of 60 postcards of modern architecture in Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Agra, the contributors to this volume explore the many dimensions of modern architecture in India from the 1890s to the 1970s and share their own perspective on these objects. Experts on architectural history and visual studies, as well as postcard collectors provide new insights into a territory and its architectural heritage which is still largely unknown in Europe, and reflect on the postcard as a medium for historical research.

For at least two decades, major cities in Turkey have been subjected to endless waves of urban development that has left scores of building demolitions in its wake. The construction waste produced is immense but its removal or abatement is completely ignored by the state. Who will deal with all this waste? Enter the reclaimers (çkmacs), an informal network of building salvagers, who have stepped in to create a new form of assemblage that fills this gap. Erdogan Onur Ceritoglu makes an in-depth ethnographic study of the under-the-radar livelihood of the reclaimers long-term. He also focuses...

Kaum ein Architekturphänomen ist dermaßen mit Diskredit behaftet wie der Späthistorismus, dessen künstlerische Gelingensbedingungen durch den Kulturumbruch des Fin de Siècle delegitimiert scheinen. Auch wenn die Stilbaukunst um und nach 1900 das bürgerlich-kapitalistische Zeitalter repräsentierte, so lassen sich darunter innovative Ansätze und eklektizistische Weiterschöpfungen ausmachen. Christian Rabl systematisiert diese stilarchitektonischen Fortschritte in ihren Einzelphänomenen - unter anderem an den späthistoristischen Stadtästhetiken von Madrid, Bukarest, Riga, Barcelona...

Lässt sich die Arbeit von Architekten als Dienstleistung beschreiben? Ist Entwerfen dialogisch? Und in welchem Verhältnis stehen Bauherr und Architekt im Entwurfsprozess? Michael Pracht beschreibt diese Konstellation und interpretiert sie anhand von Beispielen aus der Praxis neu. Dazu erweitert er bestehende Ansätze um unterschiedliche Blickwinkel anderer Disziplinen wie z.B. Medizin, Jura, Soziologie oder Philosophie. Die Studie trägt dazu bei die bestehende Forschungslücke zu schließen und vermittelt allen, die am Entwerfen und damit an der Entstehung der gebauten Umwelt beteiligt...