Architectural Theory and Design Research Papers (original) (raw)

The Seagram Building in Manhattan (1954-58), by Ludwig Mies van der
Rohe and Philip Johnson, is one of those rare pieces of architecture
which has come to define an era. For Mies van der Rohe the achievement of the Seagram Building was the resolution of years of theoretical and exacting architectural investigation.
The influence of the Seagram Building stretches beyond that of a single work of a modernist master, however. Its significance is also felt in the way it changed planning legislation and became associated with the fragmentation of the urban realm, through the spread of the generic modernist combination of tower, plaza and artwork.

Architecture consists of spatial relations that accommodate functions, afford social relations and create visual interest. Through openings and walls, architects manipulate continuities and discontinuities of visual fields
in two and three dimensions. Analytical diagrams and models of these fields have been offered by space syntax, especially through visibility graph analysis (VGA), graphing visual relations in two dimensions. This
paper introduces a new approach to VGA that departs from planar restrictions. We show how a graph can be generated of inter-visible locations on a planar surface that incorporates relations among elements in three dimensions. Using this method, we extend the current space syntax analysis of architectural space to a new methodology for diagramming and modelling three-dimensional visual relationships in architecture. The paper is structured in three parts. The first section provides an overview of the principles of visibility analysis using graphs, and explains the method by which visibility relations of ‘accessible’ and ‘inaccessible’ space in two and three dimensions are computed. This leads to a graph representation, which uses a mix of ‘directed’ and ‘undirected’ visibility connections, and a new multi-variant spatial categorisation
analysis that informs the properties of multi-directional graphs. The second part of the paper tests the three-dimensional visibility model through the analysis of hypothetical and real spatial environments. The
third part analyses Giuseppe Terragni’s Casa del Fascio, describing architectural characteristics that are not captured by two-dimensional analysis, and allowing a comparative understanding of spatial configuration in two and three dimensions. The paper concludes with a discussion about the significance of this new model as an analytical and architectural tool.

Mark Wilson Jones explores how the architects of ancient Rome approached design. Drawing on new archaeological discoveries and his own analyses of Roman monuments, the author discusses how the ancient architects dealt with the principles... more

- by Ljiljana Blagojević
- •
- Architecture, Urban History, Urban Planning, Architectural History

This is a review of the monograph on the work of the Austrian architects Riegler Riewe, situating the work in the local history and architectural context. Eva Guttmann replaces the currently predominating and simplistic account, in which Riegler Riewe’s work is mainly understood in opposition to the Graz School, for a more complex view in which the work is explained as the result of differing circumstances and a variety of ideas. After the introduction by Guttmann, the book starts off with an interview by Otto Kapfinger with Riegler and Riewe. The focus is on the early influences and impressions in their work, such as the post-war modernists surrounding Ferdinand Schuster, relatively unknown local architects such as Josef Klose, and the highly tectonic work of Heinz Bienefeld.

- by Francesco Moschini
- •
- Aesthetics, Design, Architecture, Architectural Theory and Design

Interrupted cities è un progetto di ricerca internazionale che abbiamo avviato tre anni addietro insieme a Tom Rankin, Giorgio Verdiani e Paolo Pineschi. Il progetto è stato intitolato come evidente omaggio alla Roma Interrotta di Piero Sartogo, ma - a partire da Nicosia, la città interrotta dalla divisione in due dell’isola di Cipro nel 1974 - interrupted city ha esplorato altre istanze di interruzione, quali la divisione tra centro e periferia, e anche l’interruzione della vita di una città che segue un evento sismico. È soprattutto qui il senso di questo seminario camerte. La Città di Camerino, a mio avviso, deve rinascere come era e dove era, e non può invece essere interrotta da una politica miope del ricostruire altro, altrove, incassando profitti. Nella città interrotta dal terremoto ci siamo riuniti durante il XXIX Seminario internazionale e Premio di Architettura e Cultura Urbana, coordinato da Giovanni Marucci, per indagare sull’interruzione come strumento compositivo. Per trattare l’argomento userò la figura retorica della metafora nascosta: dove una figura che rimanda ad altro, viene impiegata per suggerire il senso di un concetto, senza però delinearlo precisamente, ovvero interrompendone la definizione in modo da rafforzarne il significato.

- by Alessandro Camiz, Ph.D. and +1
- •
- Architecture, Urban Planning, Urban Morphology, Urban Studies

Design steht seit seinen Anfängen immer wieder in der Kritik, entweder einer kapitalistischen Warenästhetik Vorschub zu leisten oder dem Selbstmissverständnis der Autonomie zu verfallen. Als Abkömmling der Industrialisierung und Zögling der freien Künste scheint es zwischen den Extremen einer Drapierung von Ingenieursleistungen oder dem kommerziellen Missbrauch von Kunstpraktiken zu schwanken, selbst innerlich zerrissen und ohne eigene Orientierung. Wenn bei Design also von Ästhetik die Rede ist, entsteht schnell der Eindruck, es mit bloßem Styling zu tun zu haben, sei es im Dienst einer Absatzsteigerung oder des symbolischen Kapitals.
Die Tagung möchte demgegenüber ausloten, ob und inwieweit die Ästhetik des Designs – jenseits der Alternative von Warenförmigkeit bzw. Styling und Autonomie – als eigene Form des Ästhetischen verstanden werden kann. Gegenüber der in der ästhetischen Tradition vorherrschenden Ausrichtung an der Kunst geht es der Tagung insgesamt darum zu fragen, was es heißen könnte, die Grundfragen und die Grundbegriffe der Ästhetik noch einmal aus dem Geiste des Designs neu und erneut zu denken. Dabei steht ein solcher Versuch nicht allein angesichts der jüngsten Entgrenzungstendenzen zwischen Kunst
und Design vor der Herausforderung, dass eine Ästhetik des Designs in irgendeiner Weise auch zur Ästhetik der Kunst in Beziehung gesetzt werden muss. Nicht zuletzt stellt sich dabei die Frage, was „Kritik“ mit Blick auf Kunst und Design jeweils heißen kann.

- by Judith-Frederike Popp
- •
- Aesthetics, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Design
- by Mark Brokenshire
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- Architecture, Urban Design, Architectural Theory and Design

How does theological Metaphysics view small space ? And what link could be found between theology, Christology and Small spaces ? The aim will be to start our investigation at the figure of the "little ones"(mikroi),central to the narrative and theological construction of the first gospel and then analogically extending it to spatial matter.

- by Zeina Abou Zeid
- •
- Philosophy, Theology, Architecture, Space and Place

Due to globalization, cultural spaces are now developing with no tangible connection to geographical place. The territorial logic traditionally used to underpin architecture and envision our built environment is being radically altered, forcing the adoption of a new method of conceptualizing space/geography and what constitutes architectural practice. Construction techniques, design sensibilities, and cultural identities are being transformed as technology transports us to places that were previously unreachable. The resultant “globalized” architect must become more than just an artful visionary, but also a master of the art of the political nudge willing to act within multiple mediums and at the simultaneous scales of a chaotic new world disorder.Though fearless they must also be responsible, inherently understanding the necessity to align bold visions with the mundane details of the everyday in ways that are culturally flexible and accepting of change.The potential for what must be considered the legitimate practice of the architect must move from a purely material venue to one more directly engaged in the chaos of the larger economic, political, and social spheres of a globalizing world. The issues and possible interactions with globalization contained in this text exemplify ways that architecture is transforming into a more flexible and fluid interdisciplinary version of its traditional self in order to rise to challenges of this new international terrain. A theme runs throughout in the form of a call: that architects must conceptually reconstruct their frames of reference to better align with the demands of a rapidly globalizing world.

- by Michael Jenson
- •
- Globalization, Global cities, Place-Identity (Architecture), Global Studies
- by Katerina Kritou and +1
- •
- Architecture, Rem Koolhaas, Bordeaux, Beatriz Colomina

Using the oxymoron “virtual architecture”, this paper investigates some issues related to three levels of the contemporary projects: first, it refers to the design and conception of architecture in the age of digital data–The Third Machine Age–where the digital control makes possible multiple solutions otherwise almost unconceivable; then, it addresses to the new meaning of the image of the project, which in the last decades has become an element autonomous from the project itself; finally, it points out the risks and the possibilities in the use of virtualization to
imagine future worlds.

- by Flavia Zaffora
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- Architecture, Theory Of Architecture, Architectural Theory and Design

Inserted on the questioning of visual sintax, studying architectural graphic
representation through its means of production is an attempt to restrict the limits an
abstraction imposes. The citation: “ the new possibilities offered with the use of
digital technologies”, constitutes the basis of this paper, in which the designing
method applied by different architects both on conception as well as on
presentation of Architectural Design, is analised.

- by FRANCESCO COLLOTTI
- •
- Architecture, Architectural Theory and Design

In the modern world, urban public space is used more intensively than ever, and is often organized specifically for consumption. For decades, this was seen as a negative development; it was said that these regimented spaces are not ‘open’ spaces where people can spontaneously encounter the ‘other’, or where groups can congregate. They thus fail to meet the definition of the public sphere given by thinkers such as Hannah Arendt and Jurgen Habermas: a place for debate and democracy, for exchanging opinions. This issue of OASE shows that the tide is turning. The negative views of the past few decades should at least be qualified somewhat. Fears and concerns about the disappearance of the public domain seem to be giving way to a more positive and sophisticated point of view. This trend is particularly evident among architects and designers, not in large-scale ‘public’ projects, but in an approach to everyday assignments that strikes a balance between pragmatism and idealism. Such designers aim to create conditions in which the public can claim a space as its own. That requires a certain restraint, but there is no need for self-effacement; creating these conditions is an exciting design challenge. OASE 77 repositions the public sphere relative to contemporary social developments, offering critical reflection on a few key studies of the public sphere and the use of urban public space. This issue also discusses and presents positive design practices for urban public space, focusing on several projects from recent years.

- by Hans Teerds
- •
- Political Philosophy, Architecture, Privatisation Of Public Space, Urban Studies

La critica condivisa da Paci e Sini alla concezione scientifico-matematica di spazio e tempo che sorregge la concezione tradizionale di storia e la concezione razionalistica dell’architettura si sostanzia dell’appello al mondo della vita, alla spazialità e temporalità della vita vissuta, della durata e della relazione.
Nell'indagare il rapporto tra memoria e progetto tutto ciò ha un ruolo essenziale, così come l'apertura d'orizzonte offerto dalla genealogia e dalla sua costitutiva capacità di farsi carico di
quella circolarità delle estasi temporali per cui il passato necessita del futuro per acquistare il suo senso compiuto.

- by Laura Gioeni
- •
- Architecture, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, Frank Lloyd Wright

Introductory essay that analyzes and frames the approach of Johnston Marklee architects.

- by Reto Geiser
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- Design, Architecture, Architectural History, Contemporary Arts

This short text presents meditations on the nature and function of the "parti" in architectural design. I wrote it after having to respond to students' frequent requests for an explanation of what-it-is throughout my many years of teaching design studios. I hope that my effort casts light on the matter without killing the magic and even esoteric quality of what the 'parti' stands for.

- by Julio Bermudez
- •
- Architecture, Reflective Practice, Design Methods, Architectural Education

This paper examines the question of the relation of technique and design in architecture. The aim is to show that decisions about material, structure, construction and services are not simply matters of objective analysis, but are rooted in the cultural and aesthetic assumptions of architects. A comparison of theoretical positions proposed by Geoffrey Scott and Le Corbusier is elaborated by a comparative analysis of designs by Louis Kahn, {kano and Rogers, Robert Venturi and Carlo Scarpa.

- by Dean Hawkes
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- Architectural Theory and Design
- by Başak Yurtseven
- •
- Architecture, Space and Place, Landscape Architecture, Metaphysics of Time

In this paper I track 3D printed bacterially-infused materials in which microbes live and reproduce — selected and nurtured — to carryout biochemically-controlled tasks intended to mitigate the ravages of climate change. As architecture and urban designers we are existentially challenged to integrate nature, biology, and genetics with the built world we interpret through fablab/robotic production to tackle those ravages. That viewport reveals our need for multidisciplinary procedures arising in disciplines not usually associated with buildings or city design. Collaborating with science/technology we may take steps toward proof-of-concept materialization imbued with microbial life and intelligences that lend living environmental defenses to architecture and urban/environmental operations.

- by Dennis Dollens
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- Architecture, Climate Change, Synthetic Biology, Adaptation to Climate Change

The book Architecture and Structuralism — The Ordering of Space is intended as Hertzberger’s definitive text on structuralism, and is at once a synopsis of his earlier books, such as Lessons for Students in Architecture I & II, as well as... more

The concept of «unstable landscapes» refers to sections of territory produced by the contact/crash between different and conflicting morphological conditions. Contexts irrevocably exposed to the dynamics of the world, natural events and use way; processed, rejected, forgotten and recycled over the centuries; in-between lands grew up without a permanent order that however can be recovered. This condition is typical of the rivers, whose untamed nature, combined with the necessity to exploit their resources, has produced a particular condition of instability related to different conditions: the urgent requirement of infrastructural intervention due to a constant and increasing risk both for urban and rural areas; the request to reduce the marginality of these spaces whose landscape is impossible to recognize because fragmentary and dominated by the disorder; the necessity to find solution useful to readdress unsustainable ecological conditions. The urgency of intervention, combined wit...

- by andrea oldani
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- Geography, Landscape Architecture, Landscape Design, Infrastructure

Being attributed as one of the most significant examples of Modern Architecture, Barcelona Pavilion emerged as a prototype in terms of immateriality and the virtual dimension of space, as well as a distinguished case that juxtaposes the discourse and praxis of its epoch, which still remains as an inspiring example in today's debates. However, the pavilion was constructed in the glowing years of Modern Period, with its outstanding affiliation to International Style, this paper focuses on the pavilion as a milestone in which the intangible characteristics of the spatiality have influenced the constitution of architectural space. While declining the closed-box ideology of the conventional spatiality, this paper aims to discuss the emergence of an architectural embodiment through corporeal and incorporeal becomings (the transitive existence of architectural space as well as the interaction of subjects). This paper also interacts with spatio-temporal multiplicities, and appraises their transforming capacities in space, that enable the proliferation of the spatial relations by constituting the multiple actualization processes of endless potentials of the virtual. Besides the processes of deterritorailization and reterritorialization appear within the procedure of territorial shifts in the transition of architectural becoming and the immaterialization of the embodiment. Moreover, this paper also brings inside and outside relations into debate as well as notions of floating space and spatial continuity; visual continuity, reflection and surveillance, and furthermore the imperative affect of the image in spatial relations. In addition to all, this work is also keen at discussing these cited conceptions resonating with the concepts of contemporary theory, while speculating on the significant effect of the pavilion in contemporary architecture.

1980 年代起，改革開放的中國，積極追求經濟發展的腳步與國內各地的文化旅遊發展，及建立城市競爭力的關係密不可分。「文物保護」工作因經濟條件改善獲得關注，「歷史名城」在文物保護政策實踐下，同時，具備了改善城市居住環境條件、城市景觀與進步意涵、推動觀光與促進投資等特性，藉由販售文化觀光之體驗經濟，「歷史名城」既渴望具備現代化都市的進步意涵，亦欲建構其文化自明性的表徵，故整體都市空間結構與建築形式，儼然成為爭逐都市空間意義的主要戰場。
本文以中國歷史名城西安之文化觀光開發重點「曲江新區」的發展經驗為經，其開發區內主題公園「大唐芙蓉園」為緯，探討在文化全球化的趨勢下，意圖藉由深厚歷史文化資源，以觀光產業為發展策略，同時取得區域經濟成長與城市開發的中國，如何操弄建築空間表徵與大唐皇城之文化象徵符號，以期在文化觀光與文化資產保護均能取得文化霸權的發展模式。
關鍵字:西安、文化觀光、文化資產、文化霸權、大唐芙蓉園

Drawing is being replaced by digital simulation models in architectural practice. This will have profound effects on how architects work and think.

"This study gathers and interprets the earliest extant references to architects in ancient Greek philosophy, as found in select works of Plato and Aristotle. Throughout this review, Plato and Aristotle [are] shown to consistently present architectonic agents as exemplary civic and intellectual leaders, acting in awareness of their own (and others’) limits, with knowledge of the most appropriate archē, and with a view to the most comprehensive aims—the common good. This discloses an alternative and more accurate etymology of architects: not as master-builders but as leaders and makers of beginnings (archai). The aim of this essay has been not only to rediscover the discursive beginnings for a renewed philosophy of architecture, but to suggest how these philosophical 'archai' might help present-day architects reimagine the full relevance of their still contested role."

- by Lisa Landrum
- •
- Critical Theory, Social Theory, Political Philosophy, Aristophanes

This is a review of the first monograph of the Dutch architecture practice MVRDV; it is a reflection on the practice’s built work from the 1990s up to 2012. The book is edited by Ilka and Andreas Ruby, two self-confessed admirers of MVRDV, and it offers a mainly image-based tome and relaxed read. The article describes the context in which the work came about, the so-called SuperDutch era of relative economic prosperity and favorable cultural policy.

Physical environment should improve new startegies which are adaptive and give reference to the natural context in order to protect the environmental integrity. In that context, this article aims to explain the process and products of the... more

In ‘Urban Literacy’, Delft University associate professor Klaske Havik interrogates the relationship between literature and architecture, arguing
for a literary approach to architectural education, research and design
practice. The book sits firmly in the phenomenological discourse, framing itself in the context of the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger and Bachelard, yet it is mostly based on a particular reading of Henri Lefebvre. Havik takes Lefebvre’s triad of social space: the conceived’, the ‘perceived’ and the ‘lived’ to argue that architecture should appeal not just to our visual senses but to the full complexity of our multi-sensory experience of space. Architects don’t usually design with the ‘lived’ experience in mind, Havik contends, whereas literature abounds with rich descriptions of architectural space, sensory experiences, time and memory. This poetic potential, she argues, should be applied to architectural design to fill this lacuna.

- by Thomas Wensing
- •
- Architecture, Phenomenology, Architectural History, Architectural Theory

The article implies a critical review of the use of the term in contemporary architectural theory and criticism after its transmission from psychology. The term was introduced by C. G. Jung in 1919 to designate universal patterns that emanate from the unconscious, but only during the 1960s gained relative popularity within the field of architectural criticism. However, it was never particular school of Jungean architectural theoreticians but various authors that somehow applied the term, suggesting its free interpretation. The main goal of the article is not to provide an ultimate proof of existence of architectural archetypes but to trace the concept discourse within the Western perspective of architectural theory. To do so, several texts referring to C. G. Jung are analysed, mostly from the 1950s to the present day. Having analyzed the texts of several postwar architectural critics, it was concluded that different authors posited discrepant interpretations of architectural archetypes , which partly stems from the uncertainty of the very term "arche-type", for C. Jung himself fell short of providing a concrete definition for it. Yet, the question of existence of architectural archetypes still remains open.

- by Medeya Margoshvili
- •
- Psychology, Architecture, Jungian psychology, Architectural Theory

Studying contemporary mosque architecture necessitates dealing concurrently with both the past and the present. Burdens of the past cause a crisis at a point when architects attempt to design prayer spaces that avoid historicist references while attending to the religion’s liturgical requirements. This crisis indicates the moment at which architects are forced to become critical of what is preceding, and thus creates a challenging situation in the evolution of mosque architecture. This article takes the Sancaklar Mosque, designed by Emre Arolat Architecture (EAA), as its main object of research in order to assess this challenge. The Sancaklar Mosque presents a significant attempt to free mosque design from the prevailing formal practices observed in the majority of current mosques, by rejecting any clear reference to the historical mosque type and the use of any conventional mosque elements. However, I argue that while Sancaklar Mosque displays a clear break with the past, it is not ahistorical. The mosque suggests both a suspension of discussions on mosque architecture reduced to formal significations and historical prototypes, but also a different way of dealing with the past, which is, in this article, conceptualized as ‘defamiliarization’. The Sancaklar Mosque provides a significant example for a project in which familiar codified formal elements are displaced as a particular response to the challenge that architects face when designing religious buildings.

- by Berin Gur
- •
- Religious architecture, Mosque Architecture, Architectural Design, Displacement

Today, human activities constitute the primary environmental impact on the planet. In this context, commitments to sustainability, or minimization of damage, prove insufficient. To develop regenerative, futuring capabilities, architectural design needs to extend beyond the form and function of things and engage with the management of complex systems. Such systems involve multiple types of dynamic phenomena—biotic and abiotic, technical and cultural—and can be understood as living. Engagement with such living systems implies manipulation of pervasive and unceasing change, irrespective of whether it is valued by design stakeholders or actively managed towards homeostatic or homeorhetic conditions. On one hand, such manipulation of continuity requires holistic and persistent design involvements that are beyond natural capabilities of human designers. On the other hand, practical, political, or creative implications of reliance on automated systems capable of tackling such tasks are as yet underexplored. In response to this challenge, this paper considers an experimental approach that utilized methods of critical making and speculative designing to explore potentials of autonomous architecture. Presented experiments combined knowledge of animal architecture with intelligent behaviors of robotic devices.

- by Stanislav Roudavski
- •
- Architectural Engineering, Robotics, Robotics (Computer Science), Design

Análisis de la obra del arquitecto Alberto Campo Baeza a partir de la idea arquitectónica de su "pensar con las manos" tomando como casos de estudio la Casa Gaspar y la Casa De Blas: la primera, como interpretación del tipo de "casa-patio", con la mano en posición de guillotina; y la segunda, que sigue el modelo de "pabellón" como "belvedere" apoyado sobre podium, con la mano en posición de visera. Dos posturas que son dos ideas construidas casi antitéticas en su relación con la luz y el paisaje circundante.

Hannes Meyer fue uno de los arquitectos más comprometidos con las ideas del ala radical del racionalismo, que él mismo y otros grandes arquitectos, como Mart Stam, Hans Wittwer, Karel Teige, Ludwig Hilberseimer o Ernst May, desarrollaron durante la década de los años veinte. Su voluntad de desvincular la arquitectura del “high–art” burgués y de todo simbolismo propio del pasado, de producir construcciones de carácter objetivo y social, quedó patente en proyectos y obras firmadas por todos ellos: en el caso de Meyer, probablemente, la construcción que mejor expresa tales postulados y aquel nuevo modo de hacer arquitectura sea la Escuela Federal ADGB; construida en Bernau entre 1928 y 1930.El presente artículo estudia la citada obra, a la luz del ideario arquitectónico y social de arquitecto suizo, y trata de exponer la estrategia que se encuentra detrás de su formalización: la serie. En efecto, a partir de este mecanismo de proyecto, basado en la repetición o reproducción casi infinita de sistemas constructivos o de unidades del programa–o de ambas al mismo tiempo–aquellos arquitectos descubrieron un nuevo modo de generar la forma arquitectónica, moderno y muy poco explorado hasta entonces. Una vía donde valores como la horizontalidad, la ausencia de centro o jerarquía, la igualdad y la objetividad se erigían como el nuevo relato de la arquitectura

These are the building blocks of art. They are the things that make up a painting, drawing, sketch, design, photography etc. Good or bad - all artwork contains these basic building blocks of art. In general there are 6 Elements of Design: line, color, shape, texture, space, and value. Good design is effective design. Everything made by humankind has involved some level of design decisions. Look around. Computers, desks, chairs, coffee mugs, sweaters, shoes. Everything has been touched by a designer who made decisions about the visual and physical nature of that product based on its intended use and desired visual style.A to Z and Philosophy behind Lines and Dots

- by Dr. Uday Dokras
- •
- Design Theory, Lines, Architectural Theory and Design, Dot

Das archäologische Feld ist ein modernes Phänomen, aber meist kein praktischer Beitrag zur Stadt. So kommt regelmäßig die Frage auf: Wie sollen wir weiter damit umgehen? Welche Rolle können archäologische Relikte in der heutigen Stadt spielen? Kommt diesen Resten, ungeachtet ihres verlo-renen Gebrauchswertes, kulturelle Bedeutung zu, die beim Weiterbauen als Potential dienen kann? Ich möchte hier keinen archäologischen oder spezifisch denkmalpflegerischen, sondern einen ar-chitektonisch-städtebaulichen Blick auf den durch die Archäologie erschlossenen Grund der Stadt richten.
Diese älteren, freigelegten Stadtschichten stellen uns heute vor ein Dilemma: Unsere Reaktion da-rauf kann kein vor-bewusstes, traditionelles Arbeiten mehr sein im Sinne konventionellen Weiter-bauens. In den archäologischen Resten ist jede Kontinuität gebrochen, in unserer Praxis mit ihren konstruktiven und ökonomischen Normen lassen sich diese Überlieferungen nicht mehr selbstver-ständlich weiterverwenden. Man kann sie dokumentieren und dann aufgeben, oder aber als kultu-relle Werte neu interpretieren, um damit die oft erheblichen Anstrengungen zu ihrem Erhalt und Schutz rechtfertigen zu können. Das setzt konkrete Vorstellungen von der möglichen Bedeutung dieser Reste für die heutige Stadt voraus: Sine es anschauliche Erinnerungsfragmente? Können sie als strukturbildende Planungsvorgaben dienen, oder als Museum? Als Geschichtslehrpfad? Identi-tätsträger?
Bauen auf den Resten der Vorgängerbauten ist ein konstantes Thema der Stadtarchitektur. Alle vor-industriellen Epochen haben dafür charakteristische Methoden und Motive entwickelt: pragmati-sche, symbolische, künstlerische, wissenschaftliche. Erst mit dem Aufkommen der theoretisch-mathematischen Baustatik werden die baulichen Reste der Vorgänger im Untergrund prinzipiell zum Problem. Aus technischen Gründen müssen sie fortan bei Neubebauungen weichen. Gleichzei-tig führt das archäologische Interesse gelegentlich zum umgekehrten Vorgang: zur Beseitigung jün-gerer, oberirdischer Bauten im Interesse der Freilegung unterirdischer Reste.
Mit der Entwicklung der Archäologie wurde die historische Stadt in ein Museum ihrer selbst ver-wandelt. Von Schutt und späteren Zutaten befreite Reste erlangten den Status von Denkmalen und nahmen einen vorderen Platz im Stadtraum ein. Wenn wir die geschichtlichen Sedimente der Stadt aber aus dem Blickwinkel des modernen Städtebaus betrachten, erleben wir eine Umdrehung der Perspektive: Bei den Stadtprojekten der Avantgarde standen die historischen Relikte regelmäßig im Hintergrund. Vor einer düsteren Kulisse konnte die neue Stadt umso strahlender auftreten.
Die Städtebauer vor hundert Jahren sahen sich genötigt, die alte Stadt buchstäblich von Grund auf zu reformieren. Anhand einiger Stichworte und Beispiele soll geprüft werden, welche Rolle der geschichtlich geprägte "Grund" in städtebaulichen Unternehmungen und Visionen des 20. Jahrhun-derts spielt: Evakuierung, Abschied vom Untergrund, Tabula rasa als Postulat der modernen Met-ropole, Archäologie als Aufklärungs-Metapher, Objet trouvé: Surrealistische Reliquien, Trophäen – Indienstnahme der Relikte, Praktische Aneignung und symbolische Inszenierung, Wiederaufbau und Denkmalpflege, Didaktische Präsentation: die Stadt als Geschichtsbuch.
Wertkategorien und Handlungsoptionen: Ein stadtarchäologisches Areal geht mit Abschluss der Dokumentation vom Zuständigkeitsbereich der Archäologie zurück in denjenigen der Stadtbevölke-rung und ihrer Planer, Architekten, Denkmalpfleger etc.. Dabei wechseln die Wertkategorien, denn in der städtischen Praxis spielt ein etwaiger Nutzwert eine entscheidende Rolle. An dieser Schnitt-stelle gilt es deshalb, die unterschiedlichen Maßstäbe und Interessen (didaktisch – ästhetisch – pragmatisch) zu bestimmen und daraus resultierende Konzepte auszuhandeln. Einige Möglichkeiten hierfür sollen an Beispielen verdeutlicht werden.

- by Thomas Will
- •
- Archaeology, Urban archaeology, Urban Design, Urban Design and Heritage Conservation