The Construction of Change in Architecture and Urbanism. Discursive Positions Between Obsolescence and Utopianism

Architecture and urbanism are deeply rooted within historically changing social, economic and cultural systems. A wealth of domain-specific concepts, or narratives, has been developed within these disciplines that describe, theorize and structure the broad theoretical field of change. They have informed the planning of socialist cities, welfare-state housing, post-industrial restructuring, or processes of sustainable transformation. They are used in intra-disciplinary contexts as well as broader public debates. They have influenced normative discourses, represent positions, are consequential, and in this sense do political work. Assisted by the positional map which I produced for the research of architectural narratives of conflict and change, I will identify and discuss a selection of concepts, or parts thereof, that since the arrival of Modernism in architecture and urbanism have travelled across geographic and political boundaries, across Eastern and Western Europe, and that could be considered part of a shared body of reference or other unifying process, including conflict and competition. The selection of positions covers the field between the extremes of obsolescence, understood as the failure to accommodate further change, and utopianism, understood as a profound and complete process of change, that per definition can never be fully achieved. With a view to the challenges urban environments are facing today, it seems more important than ever to maintain lively debates about how and in which directions we want cities to change. Since the work of architects and urbanists includes the “visioning” of different futures, the discussion lends itself to raise questions about the visions of change, or non-change, that we share today.      «

Architecture and urbanism are deeply rooted within historically changing social, economic and cultural systems. A wealth of domain-specific concepts, or narratives, has been developed within these disciplines that describe, theorize and structure the broad theoretical field of change. They have informed the planning of socialist cities, welfare-state housing, post-industrial restructuring, or processes of sustainable transformation. They are used in intra-disciplinary contexts as well as broader...     »