In the summer of 2010 architecture is witnessing a situation best described as complex, confusing and uncertain. In the midst of the quest for survival, meaning and balanced choice, this uncertainty is also source of innovation and creation, a source for curiosity, over the fear, protectionism, conformism and repetition.
As guest-editors MVRDV and The Why Factory exploited exactly this momentum as an opportunity for a densified process of creating, questioning and gathering. This lead to a wide spectrum of themes regarding the production of architecture and urbanism.
A monothematic approach would have been limiting since everything is inter-connected. This inter-connectivity itself describes the relations, the complexity, the richness, the differentiation and the surprises. This moves from mono-thematic to multi-thematic. A celebration and further acceleration of diversity: from multi-disciplinary to maxi-disciplinary. The collaborators of MVRDV and The Why Factory brainstormed with as a result an explosion of thoughts, ideas, opinions and voices which have been turned into 70 articles by a group of international writers, well-known and less known. The edition proposes denser contents compared to ‘A’A’s regular editions, connected by a Facebook-like technique.
In the summer of 2010 architecture is witnessing a situation best described as complex, confusing and uncertain. In the midst of the quest for survival, meaning and balanced choice, this uncertainty is also source of innovation and creation, a source for curiosity, over the fear, protectionism, conformism and repetition.
As guest-editors MVRDV and The Why Factory exploited exactly this momentum as an opportunity for a densified process of creating, questioning and gathering. This lead to a wide spectrum of themes regarding the production of architecture and urbanism.
A monothematic approach would have been limiting since everything is inter-connected. This inter-connectivity itself describes the relations, the complexity, the richness, the differentiation and the surprises. This moves from mono-thematic to multi-thematic. A celebration and further acceleration of diversity: from multi-disciplinary to maxi-disciplinary. The collaborators of MVRDV and The Why Factory brainstormed with as a result an explosion of thoughts, ideas, opinions and voices which have been turned into 70 articles by a group of international writers, well-known and less known. The edition proposes denser contents compared to ‘A’A’s regular editions, connected by a Facebook-like technique.
The table of content:
Why Uncertainty? by Winy Maas | Liquid times: Living in an Age of Uncertainty by Zygmunt Bauman | What is utopia today? | Atomized architecture by Theo Deutinger, Federica Vazzana and Catarina Dantas | Whatever happened to architectural criticism? It played it safe! by Alexandra Lange | The un-read. The mismatch between theory and practice by Hilde Heynen | What is the role of architecture-magazines today? by Beatriz Colomina and Cyrille Poy | How we promote architecture by BIG, HOK, JDS, MAD, Mecanoo, MVRDV, Jerde Partnership and Tectonics | Mies Media by Beatriz Colomina | The fashion of architecture by Felix Burrichter | We are lost in translation by Annaik Deceuninck, Ania Molenda and Emily Waugh | The dictionary of Vagueness by Aaron Betsky, Geoff Manaugh, Hans Ibelings, Jonathan Glancey , Mark Shepard, Martien de Vletter, Powerhouse Company, Piet Vollaard, Roemer van Toorn, Saskia Sassen and Toshiko Mori | The value of value by John Thackara and Klaas Hofman | We need Archinomics by Ronald Wall | The value of geography by Michael Najjar | Mon portable me met les nerfs en pelote by Harmut Rosa | Our impact by Ulf Hackauf and Pirio Haikola with WielandGouwens | The Green Dream by T?F | Les points clés de la durabilité en action by Mohamed Benzerzour and Franck Boutté | The End (or the new beginning) by Jan Knikker | Why do we not want to understand the future? by Nassim Nicholas Taleb | The edited crisis by David McCandless | Dare to look back by Jan van de Pavert | Be prepared! Planning for the unexpected with Willem Hoekstra | The space for being safe | How do you survive? by Marie Douce Albert | Who do you want to be? by Powerhouse Company | What if they would have been realized? by Gustavo van Staveren | Architecture as a tactic with Markus Miessen | The Crisis of the future image by Tihamer Salij | Be more! by Winy Maas | (use)less to (use)more by Basurama | Optimism is not enough with Kobas Laksa | The happiness filter by Luxigon | La necessité dune île (and the case of SimpliCity) by Jeroen Zuidgeest | Design and politics by Henk Ovink | We are the city makers by Vincent Ocasla | Stop building! by Bart Peters and Sebastian Ropers | Urban propaganda by Justin McGuirk | City Marketing by Robbert Nesselaar | The art of making slogans with Jenny Holzer | On the realization of collectivity by Ekim Tan and Diana Ibáñez López | Building without Bureaucracy by Finn Williams, David Knight and Ulf Hackauf | The reality of virtuality with Mark Shepard | Pixelpower by Winy Maas | A déjà vu by Nacho Velasco and Isabel Pagel | SanOma/OmaSan by Winy Maas | Open up. Embracing Uncertainty by Paul Hughes | Will you dare to? by MVRDV | Scale-less #1 by Johannes Schele | Scale-less #2 by Peter Root | Visual communication with Paul Mijksenaar and Herbert Seevinck | Drôles de plans | weaponofchoice by Marick Baars and Hugo van den Emster | Architects are becoming more and more deskilled with Rory McGowan | Moi, je construis by Andre Kempe and by Marte Marte Architects. | Nothing is more necessary than the un-necessary by Farshid Moussavi | Due yesterday! The regime of the deadline | Slogans for survival by Wieden + Kennedy | The co-authorship by Dominique Alba, Dimitri Boulte, Gaëlle Maidon and Bertrand Schippan | Who is responsible? with Mariana Idiarte and Antonio Tena | Confessions of an architect by Clélie Protière, Flore Raimbault and Noa Peer | The reality filter by Luxigon | Why do you do it? with Alain de Botton | Careers paths by Diana Ibáñez López and Sabina Favaro | The quitters with Hugo Sanchez and Basurama | The making of architects with Marc Angélil and Wytze Patijn | Coming soon with Mick van Gemert, Tanya Martinez Gonzales, David Koezen and Ahmet Korfali | Stay ahead! with Li Edelkoort | Planetary deadlines by Johannes Schele and Maciek Grelewicz | Calling all visionaries! | News
