Red Carpet Treatment for the Red Planet Architect

2016 MA A+U graduate Karan Gandhi was recently invited to give a lecture about his Mars City Design project at the College of Architecture at the SDPS Women's College in Indore http://www.sdps.edu.in/index.php/colleges/college-of-architecture/

Karan was surprised but honoured to be received as Chief Guest (with a red carpet and flower garlands) and was asked to describe his experience of studying outside India, and explain his design philosophy to an enthusiastic audience. Karan writes 'I had planned to speak for half an hour, but the lecture went on for about 90 minutes due to an overwhelming amount of questions the students had. It was a great experience for me at this stage of my career, and I enjoyed it a lot.'

FRIENDS OF BOOTLE STREET

MA A+U are very proud to announce that the 2016-17 international cohort will begin their urbanism studies as the FRIENDS OF BOOTLE STREET, responding to the recently unveiled St. Michael's proposal www.st-michaels.com

Adjacent to Albert Square in Manchester, this alternative student-designed project will seek to address the many criticisms levelled at the municipally sanctioned project by heritage bodies and concerned citizens, and provide a focus for a contextually appropriate proposal for this significant Manchester site.

The students have started a website to collate their design process www.friendsofbootlestreet.strikingly.com and the dialogue around the project can be followed at www.twitter.com/BootleStFOBS

Congratulations!

MA A+U 2015-16 are very pleased to announce the following students have graduated successfully from the course.

Rayan Almaghrbi MA

Yibo Gao MA

Wenyi Huang MA

Selma Ayduz MA with Distinction

Moyang Liu MA

Yuxin Tian MA

Ewa Effiom MA with Distinction

Yuchen Qin MA

Xiaoyu Wen MA

Karan Gandhi MA with Distinction

Xiaojun Wang MA

Daqing Xu MA

Leah McKnight MA with Distinction

Peiyi Zhang MA

The Graduation Ceremony will take place at the Whitworth Hall, University of Manchester in December 2016 and we wish all our new graduands every success in their future careers. The cohort are pictured below waiting for their visit to the Soane Museum, London during the first week of their studies in 2015.

Biennale Sessions: 29 June 2016

On June 29 2016 the MA A+U hosted their annual symposium entitled 'Frontiers of Responsive Architecture' as part of the Biennale Sessions at the Venice Architecture Biennale. This year's symposium held in the main pavilion at the Giardini di Biennale took the form of a conversation between Chilean architect Claudio Molina Camacho and James Taylor-Foster co-curator of the Nordic Pavilion at this year's Biennale based around a discussion of some of Molina Camacho's built and unbuilt projects. Molina Camacho had chosen the theme 'Human Relations, Social Interaction and Dialogue with the Landscape' to describe his work, which in turn responded to Biennale director Alejandro Aravena's theme of 'Reporting from the Front'. Taylor-Foster, whose own pavilion was based around the theme of 'In Therapy' acted as the interlocutor issues presented in the four projects which were presented.

Molina Camacho began by relating his personal theme to fellow Chilean Aravena's broader purpose in his Biennale curation, exploring the topographic frontier presented by their capital city Santiago, surrounded by the encompassing presence of mountains. The first project he discussed, a space for a scout group attached to a school in the city could clearly be defined as a liminal building in accord with the Biennale theme. Completed in 2011 the timber clad building was designed to help educate the scouts how to survive in frontier situations. Constructed on a tree shaded and sloping site the deceptively simple buildings were described as a search for light with cuts in the envelope of the box like structures allowing for connections between the sheltered interior spaces and the wooded exterior, with the sound of running water on the site providing an ever present sensory link to the wider landscape. Responding to this project in his first intervention Taylor-Foster asked how the very assured project was developed in its contextual response in reaction to the previous accommodation but also in terms of the social landscape to which it is firmly rooted.

In the second project which Molina Camacho discussed, the Ruka Vitral Mapuche Workshop, the building form, because of its severely limited budget evokes the universal typology of the primitive hut, and specifically because of its functional purpose for weaving that association used by Semper. This project for the teaching of indigenous weaving skills in a pastoral landscape presents ethnicity as a new frontier for architecture where traditional craft and building are reinterpreted for the present day. Comfortably situated in the terrain from which it derives its materiality, it is a simple building which distills its cultural values into architectural form. With a timber structure and reed thatch roof appropriated from the landscape comparisons were drawn by Taylor-Foster to Aravena's 'half a house' project, albeit here employing very different technology, and by Prue Chiles in her comment on the reciprocal relationship between th community and hand made construction.

The third design project which Molina Camacho presented was a fly fishing centre in a riverine landscape which is undergoing decontamination, a 4.8 metre square timber tower which he described as like the trunk of a tree one can climb inside, an object of shared construction between the anglers and the local community. A spatially complex and geometrically precise structure the economy of means the project demonstrates suggests a potentially magical and elegant intervention in a recovering landscape. To close, Molina Camacho described the doctoral research he is about to commence at the Manchester School of Architecture on the rehabilitation of the surviving concrete market structure in Concepción, Chile an architectural and ethnographic studio which will allow him to further explore how interactions between people, construction and context create a responsive architecture.

Following the symposium, it being the feast of St.Peter and St.Paul, many of the participants retired to the nearby Piazza San Pietro di Castello and joined the parish community in celebrating the height of the Venetian summer with food, drink, song and dance.

Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'Norman Foster: Designing the Future, Starting in The North'

The North of England has a track record of changing the world through superb performance. It was the crucible of the Industrial Revolution and is now at the forefront of technological innovation at places such as the National Graphene Institute, as well as being the home of British sporting excellence. As it rediscovers its economic drive, creative energy and self-belief, what part will design play in making the North great again?

In this lecture Norman Foster, himself a Mancunian, shows how world-class buildings, places and spaces are as crucial now as they were in the nineteenth century. Don’t miss this chance to hear our greatest living architect make the case for design as a key ingredient in shaping the Northern Powerhouse.

WHEN
Wednesday, 9 November 2016 from 13:00 to 14:30 (GMT)
WHERE
Manchester Town Hall - Albert Square, Manchester, M2 5DB

This lecture is the inaugural Lord St. John of Fawsley Commemoration Lecture organised by the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust in association with Manchester City Council. Register for this free event on Eventbrite

Human Relations, Social Interaction and Dialogue with the Landscape

MA A+U are very pleased to announce 'Human Relations, Social Interaction and Dialogue with the Landscape' as the theme of our contribution to the #BiennaleSessions in which Chilean architect Claudio Molina Camacho will be in conversation with James Taylor-Foster of the Nordic Pavilion.

Reporting 'REPORTING FROM THE FRONT'

REPORTING FROM THE FRONT Alejandro Aravena's theme as Director of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 offers a wide open opportunity for architects, academics and critics to present and debate contemporary architecture and urbanism with a particular emphasis on the borderlines of professional activity and its interactions with different social groups. Aravena's call has been met in many diverse ways in the exhibitions which, if lacking the coherence of the last Biennale directed by Rem Koolhaas, offer a spectrum of approaches which the globalising urban world might require. The displays at the Giardini and the Arsenale both balance national contributions with selected participations which demonstrate specific techniques or projects that push the envelope of the status quo, be that politically, socially or technologically.

Highlights at the Giardini include Germany's 'open door' responding to the refugee crisis, France's elegant 'savoir faire', Belgium's sidelong look at construction and Poland's advocacy regarding construction workers' rights. Closer to the Biennale's home the Venetian Pavilion allows young architects to propose interventions in the post-industrial landscape of Marghera, including the appropriation of the siege strategy of 'poliorceticon' to reconquer an abandoned territory.

However the centrepiece exhibit in the main pavilion at the Giardini, a lattice like catenary brick vault by Solano Benitez / Gabinete de Arquitectura from Paraguay, is a stunningly beautiful demonstration of economy and elegance of means which (if this is not too incongruous to say) richly deserves its Golden Lion for Best Participant. It contrasts with other vaulted structures displayed at the Arsenale. Norman Foster Foundation presents a brick vaulted drone port for Rwanda intended for the delivery of medicines and supplies in remote areas, while ETH Zurich display a digitally fabricated stone vault quarried in Texas and transported to Venice to wow the global architectural audience. This structure is a great spectacle but one wonders, in the specific environmental context of this Biennale, about the carbon footprint of such procedures given the abundant availability of stone in Switzerland and the Veneto. Floating much more lightly on the earth, quite literally, is the replica of the Makoko Floating School from Lagos by NLÉ which appears much more aligned with the spirit of Aravena's theme and is moored in the Arsenale's basin. An engaging lightness of touch is a characteristic shared, despite the geographic distance, between the Chilean and Nordic Pavilions.

At the Arsenale the dramatic nature of the extended sequence of the Corderie is exploited for good and ill, with a beautiful and playful demonstration of the wonders of light which immediately engages visitors, and a slightly terrifying totalitarian model of a project for the Skolkovo Innovation Centre in Moscow which echoes uncomfortably with the more ironic display in the Russian Pavilion at the Giardini of the Stalinist VDNKh pleasure grounds presented in a mesmerising kaleidoscopic projection.

Outside the principal venues at the Giardini and the Arsenale, many countries have their chance to raise their architectural profile. Liechtenstein hosted a very well attended educational symposium, and when turning a corner near Campo Santo Stefano on can encounter a champagne reception hosted by Luxembourg, or a small rave hosted by Montenegro. But in many respects the most touching element in the whole of the Biennale is the Portuguese exhibition on the Giudecca and entitled 'Where Alvaro meets Aldo'. It neatly commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Aldo Rossi's 'The Architecture of the City' in 1966 and Alvaro Siza's longstanding involvement with him and others of the School of Venice, and in the collaborative design of social housing in the Campo di Marte project. The exhibition occupies the unfinished ground floor of a block by Siza and features models and drawings of that project and three of his other housing schemes in Porto, The Hague and Berlin. Films of Siza visiting the residents of each project, discussing their successes and failures are an eloquent commentary on the fact that the engagement of architects with social and political issues treads a very thin line between optimism and disappointment, and neither is it only a recent phenomenon.


The Venice Architecture Biennale continues until 27 November 2016


MA A+U will be hosting their annual symposium entitled FRONTIERS OF RESPONSIVE ARCHITECTURE as part of the Biennale Sessions on 29 June 2016 - information at https://fora2016.wordpress.com/

FRONTIERS OF RESPONSIVE ARCHITECTURE: Claudio Molina Camacho

MA A+U are extremely pleased to announce that Chilean architect CLAUDIO MOLINA CAMACHO will be our special guest at the symposium 'Frontiers of Responsive Architecture' to be held as part of the Biennale Sessions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. Claudio will be presenting a series of buildings and projects in response to Biennale Director Alejandro Aravena's theme REPORTING FROM THE FRONT.

Date: 29 June 2016

Venue: Giardini Biennale, Venice

To confirm attendance please contact the @FORA2016 team via email at frontiersaandu@gmail.com

Frontiers of Responsive Architecture

MA A+U are very pleased to announce that our 2016 Symposium 'Frontiers of Responsive Architecture' https://fora2016.wordpress.com/ will be held as Manchester School of Architecture's contribution to the Biennale Sessions http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/exhibition/biennale-sessions/ during the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale REPORTING FROM THE FRONT

For further information on this event please contact The FORA Team via email frontiersaandu@gmail.com or follow them on twitter @FORA2016

Dr. Ahlam Sharif

Congratulations to 2012 MA A+U alumna Dr. Ahlam Sharif who has recently been awarded a Ph.D from the University of Manchester for a thesis entitled

"Sustainable Architectural Design between Inscription and De-scription: The Case of Masdar City".


Ahlam writes

"The thesis aims to deconstruct the traditional dualities between design and use and blend the boundaries between them. It focuses on the design as a process that is complex, dynamic, and unpredicted on its own, where other processes, such as use, are part of it. It utilises the case of Masdar City, which has been designed by the architectural and urban planning firm Foster + Partners in the UK (F+P) and implemented in the Middle East, more particularly in the United Arab Emirates. It provides a particular focus on its first developed stage represented by Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). Based on a qualitative and inductive approach, the conducted research utilises interviews and site observations with the designer, users, and other main contributors to target the main research aim. Through such emphasis, it reflects on the concept of sustainability that is itself contested, changeable, and vague."

Dr. Sharif will receive her doctorate at a graduation ceremony in July.

Life on Mars

MA A+U is very excited to announce that Karan Gandhi, a student in the 2015-16 cohort has been shortlisted in the top ten for the Mars City Design Competition http://www.marscitydesign.com/ . Karan's proposal for the design of the first city on the red planet, entitled Neurosynthesis, which he presented at the Space Innovation conference in London last week, will now go forward for further research and development at a workshop at the University of Southern California in July. Karan's new website http://www.karchitect.com/ contains more information on his work.

Democratising the City through Public Space

The Thematic Meeting on Public Spaces held in Barcelona between 4-5 April co-ordinated a series of academic and activist initiatives to reach a global definition of public space in preparation for the UN Habitat III meeting to be held in Quito in October 2016. Delegates participated in plenary and thematic sessions, and side events which documented research, design and experience from the highly privileged cities of the west and the predominantly under privileged cities of the global south. While the gap between these two situations is often very wide, the significance and necessity of access to open public space was constantly reiterated by different speakers.

Although the threats of gentrification, the privatisation of public space and the ubiquity of the shopping mall are commonplace in the developed world they are far from unknown phenomena in the global south, although existing in much more dramatically unequal situations. For example, in the area of roads (highly negative components from a European perspective) Maria Antonieta Pinto Lopes d'Alba from Guinea-Bissau outlined how important road development was to improve the productivity and sustainability of that country's agricultural economy to get its crops to market in the city. Costly Chanza from Blantyre, Malawi commented on the encroachment and degradation of green space for illegal housing in a country which has many growing informal settlements. Ann Wanjira from Kenya, representing a coalition of groups from just such informal settlements offered a series of bottom-up recommendations for the NGOs defining the New Urban Agenda for the process towards Quito. Alison Brown from Cardiff University, in a highly animated presentation, commented that the public space in developing cities was often a necessary working environment for the urban poor, and that these livelihoods should be celebrated rather than erased through the onset of development and privatisation.

In a side event hosted by Future of Places (futureofplaces.com) Setha Low outlined specific points to ensure social justice in public space, while in another session Peter Elmlund discussed the economics of plot size and the need for fine grain ownership to maintain human scale in cities and aid diversity of occupancy. With this citing of successful historic precedent, perhaps inevitably the exemplary model of Cerda's 1859 plan for Barcelona was much commented upon in many sessions including the opening remarks of Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN Habitat and former Mayor of Barcelona. Pietro Garau referred to it as a plan for a 'public space driven city'. Salvador Rueda presented the project for the revitalisation of Barcelona itself through the superblock model (http://www.bcnecologia.net) while Joseph Maria Montaner discussed the relationship between new public spaces and the upgrading of the city's housing provision by often simple and modest measures.

Across such a wide ranging set of localities and experiences there occasionally seemed to be a mismatch between the advocacy of Eurocentric models and the very different conditions in informal settlements in some of the worst urban situations imaginable, but in the closing ceremony and the formal adoption of the Barcelona Declaration (https://www.habitat3.org/barcelona) the hope expressed was one leading to 'democratising the city through public space'.

TOP TEN

MA A+U are thrilled that MANCHESTER SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE has been named as one of the top schools of architecture in the world, one of just three UK institutions to make the Top Ten in the QS Top Universities 2016 rankings for the subject.

Professor Tom Jefferies, head of the Manchester School of Architecture, said: “It’s fantastic news which reflects the unique position of the school sitting in two major centres of excellence – Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University and the School of Environment, Education and Development at The University of Manchester. It is a measure of the very interesting exploratory and ground breaking work we do with a range of national and international partners. It’s great for Manchester and the region, and we are already looking at opportunities arising from this.”

Manchester School of Architecture has been run collaboratively by Manchester Metropolitan University and The University of Manchester since 1996. The QS Top University Rankings have been published internationally since 2004, and is one of the most widely read global university rankings.

Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'Some Reasons for Travelling to Italy'

Peter Wilson, a guest of the MA A+U course in 2012, has recently published his new book 'Some Reasons for Travelling to Italy' (AA Publications 2016). The publisher writes

"Italian cities have been points of reference for much of architect Peter Wilson’s professional life and the many reasons for visiting the country have long presented themselves as not just the easy list – holidays, food, architecture and culture. The grand tour is the most obvious of tropes for framing these things, but it can also serve as a useful vehicle for a more ingrained understanding into Italy’s wider architectural habitat and cultural mythology. This book, which accompanies an exhibition of the same title at the AA School in 2016, appears in the form of a latter-day Baedeker. But rather than a pragmatic itinerary, its content here offers an eclectic and idiosyncratic list of assorted reasons to head south, richly illustrated by Wilson’s own drawings and watercolours.

Some of the reasons for travelling to Italy include: to live cheaply, to travel with a consumptive relative, to look up, to abandon a bikini, to disappear, to make the Pope smile, to invent neo-classicism, to research Tarantism, to discover a telefonino on Etna and in an English garden in Naples."

Nothing could be more timely as MA A+U are close to finalising details of our own journey there ...

MMU Postgraduate Loan Scheme

Manchester Metropolitan University is offering postgraduate loans for taught masters courses including MA Architecture + Urbanism commencing in the 2016/17 academic year. This is in addition to the Alumni Loyalty Discount which will be available for the second year running in 2016/17. Three current MA A+U students benefit from the 20% discount on fees.

Details are available at www.mmu.ac.uk/pgloan

Architecture + Urbanism recommends "Time and Context"

TIME AND CONTEXT
A Continuity in Architecture Symposium

Tuesday 8 March 2016
2pm—6pm

Benzie 403 Manchester School of Art

Through a series of lectures from award winning practitioners and academics, 'Time and Context' seeks to understand the importance of context in relation to Architecture and the influence of time on a building, from its moment of conception through its iterations of adaptation.

Fred Scott was previously a visiting professor of Interior Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design and course leader for Interior Design at Kingston University. He is the author of On Altering Architecture, and will be discussing its suggested practice based on the interrogation of the context, to work with the everyday in flux with the ideal in an attempt to find elements of a theory of intervention.

Hana Loftus, one of the founders of HAT Projects a studio with specific focus on public and civic projects, is an expert in public participation in urban development. She will be discussing two projects; the RIBA award winning Jerwood Gallery on Hasting’s seafront, and the $20,000 house in Alabama, a prototype for families living in poverty.

Hugh Strange runs an award winning architecture practice based in London which has a keen interest in precise contextual responses to sensitive urban and rural sites. He will be discussing two projects, his personal residence Stange House and Studio, a low budget yet generous house designed to inhabit an old pub yard, and Architecture Archive, a new timber structure fit within the walls an existing barn.

Shin Egashira is an artist, architect and educator that has worked in Tokyo, Beijing and New York before coming to London in 1987. He is the founder and organizer of Koshirakura landscape workshop which he will be discussing. Within its 10 years of existence the workshop has served as an infrastructure for social sustainability and continues to document a post-agricultural community in transition.

Gianni Botsford, founder of Gianni Botsford Architects in 1996, will be discussing two projects. The RIBA award winning light house, a new build large family house on back land site in Notting Hill, London. Also Casa Kiké located in Costa Rico, a RIBA international award winning double pavilion.

The symposium is chaired by David Connor, architect and associate lecturer at Manchester School of Architecture whose award winning practice have worked on contextualised schemes all over the world.

Talks will start at 2PM with a series of refreshments throughout the afternoon. Panel discussions and wine will be the last session of the day starting at 5PM and concluding at 6PM.

Free Admission.

Ph.D Scholarship Funding: ARCHITECTURE + URBANISM

As part of MMU's £2.5m Ph.D. Scholarship Funding the Manchester School of Architecture seeks high quality research applications in the professions, practices, policies, histories and theories of architecture, planning and design.

Proposals may be based on individual research projects or on student-initiated projects in collaboration with a cultural organization outside of Higher Education.

Project aims and objectives

In an age where more people live in the city than the countryside, issues of architecture and its relationship to urbanism have never been more intellectually fascinating, socially vital and environmentally urgent.

The Architecture Research Group is involved in debates about the role of architecture in an age of economic globalisation, technological futurism, environmental and societal change which demand an approach to architectural studies that draws upon a diverse range of practices and plural forms of knowledge.

The research group is at the heart of an interdisciplinary project in which competing conceptions of design and development are brought into critical dialogue and we would welcome applications which fit with this remit. Central to this dialogue is the pursuit of research through which we aim to critically understand the evolution of design and development strategies, histories and theories of architecture and the wider social, economic and environmental processes shaping buildings, neighbourhoods, public spaces and cities. Drawing upon and connecting an energetic and diverse research community stretching across social sciences in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Manchester and art and design research within the Manchester School of Art at the Manchester Metropolitan University, our research staff possess a unique and broad range of interests and expertise across theory and design, policy and practice.

Specific requirements of the project
Successful candidates will have training in the specified disciplines or cognate fields. normally with a high 2:1 or first class BA (Hons) and a merit or distinction at MA or equivalent professional experience.

Full scholarship and fees only awards for full time and part time study are available.

Proposals may be individually initiated, or collaborative and have interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives. They will respond to the area of research excellence defined within the activities of the Architecture Research Group in the Manchester School of Architecture.

You will be supervised by leading practitioners, theorists and historians. Be sure to contact Dr Myna Trustram (M.Trustram@mmu.ac.uk) before you make a formal application for advice and feedback on your proposal.

Student eligibility
UK, EU and international students

Deadline for applications 21 March 2016 (9.00 AM)

Informal enquiries can be made to:

Dr Myna Trustram
Email: m.trustram@mmu.ac.uk

Examples of recent postgraduate research are available on the following website ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH
http://architectureandgraduateresearch.blogspot.co.uk

Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'Rafael Moneo: Building Teaching Writing'

RAFAEL MONEO: BUILDING TEACHING WRITING

by Francisco Gonzalez de Canales and Nicholas Ray

(Yale University Press 2015)

The Spanish architect Rafael Moneo (b. 1937) has won numerous awards (including the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize), yet this publication is the first to offer a critical study of his career as a whole-not only his many built works and projects but also his contributions to teaching and his writings. The book begins with a comprehensive biography, covering Moneo's education, teaching appointments, and encounters with historians and architects in Europe and the United States, such as Peter Eisenman, Jorn Utzon, and Bruno Zevi. Also included is a discussion of some of the buildings that he has designed, notably the Prado Museum extension and Atocha Station in Madrid. The following section examines in more detail seven key buildings chosen to illustrate crucial developments in Moneo's thinking, from the Bankinter, Madrid, to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles. The last and most extensive section considers his architectural philosophy: his design approach, his idea of the canon, his theory of composition, his notion of form, and his confrontation with reality-in construction and context.

Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'Massimiliano Fuksas: 22 January 2016'

On Friday 22 January 2016 the Manchester School of Architecture is pleased to host a lecture by the Italian architect MASSIMILIANO FUKSAS


INTRODUCTION

Studio Fuksas, led by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, www.fuksas.com is an international architectural practice with offices in Rome (since 1967), Paris (since 1989) and Shenzhen (since 2008). With built projects across Europe, Asia and North America, Studio Fuksas is characterized by an innovative approach as well as interdisciplinary skills and experiences consolidated over three decades through the design of masterplans, offices, residential buildings, infrastructures, cultural centres, leisure centres, retail developments, hotels, shopping malls, public buildings, interior design and product design.


WHO IS IT FOR?

This is a FREE lecture organised by the Manchester School of Architecture. It is an open lecture for both students and members of the profession.

TICKETS

Please register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/massimiliano-fuksas-lecture-tickets-20848551579


TIME

Friday 22 January 2016, 18:00 - 19:30

VENUE

4th FLOOR LECTURE THEATRE (403)

BENZIE BUILDING/CHATHAM BUILDING

MMU


This event has been made possible through the sponsorship of The Bradshaw Gass Trust.

http://bgtrust.org.uk/

Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS'

The City That Never Was
Reconsidering the Speculative Nature of Contemporary Urbanization

Christopher Marcinkoski
(assistant professor of landscape architecture, University of Pennsylvania)


Published in December 2015 by Princeton Architectural Press this new book presents a comprehensive account of a contemporary urban phenomenon. The publishers write

'One of the most troubling consequences of the 2008 global financial collapse was the midstream abandonment of several large-scale speculative urban and suburban projects.The resulting scars on the landscape, large subdivisions with only marked-out plots and half-finished roads, are the subject of The City That NeverWas, an eye-opening look at what happens when development, particularly what the author calls "speculative urbanism," is out-of-sync with financial reality. Presenting historical and recent examples from around the world from the sprawl of the US Sun Belt and the unoccupied towns of western China, to the "ghost estates" of Ireland and focusing on case studies in Spain, Marcinkoski proposes an ecologically based model in place of the capricious economic and political factors that typically drive development today.
In addition to an in-depth theoretical investigation, the author includes a history of speculative development, as well as numerous design examples for more responsible urban growth.'