archplus 180 – Convertible City
Ausstellungskatalog des Deutschen Pavillons, Venice Biennale 2006
The catalogue accompanying the German contribution at the 10th International Architecture Exhibition 2006 in Venice was published as an issue of archplus, the German magazine for architecture and urbanism. archplus 180: Convertible City has been guest edited and designed by the commissioners of the German Pavilion Armand Grüntuch and Almut Grüntuch-Ernst.
“The German contribution takes us into the heart of Germany’s big cities, to places where the oldest traces of the past overlap with the newest thrusts into the future. Convertible City tells of stimulating transformations of existing buildings and urban situations and makes the city as lived in and felt a central issue. The selected projects exemplify various approaches to sustainable conversion, densification and transformation of architecture and the urban tissue for new urban worlds of living and working. These adaptations express the need for a reinterpretation of the quality of life today; they also represent a new sense of life and of relishing the city. The exhibition also presents work (both realised and unrealised) by well-known and less wellknown architects, town planners, landscape architects and artists. The broad spectrum of projects meet the requirements of a changing society and cultural landscape in their self-perception, in their protagonists’ interaction and the impact they make. These projects also give an insight into the great variety of creative transformation in Germany’s urban space, and identify new opportunities for architecture and urbanism through flexible thinking and sustainable concepts. The underlying principle of sustainability has also been conceptually applied to the publication. Instead of the usual book format the commissioners has cooperated with the German magazine for architecture and urbanism archplus, which they have guest edited and designed for the Convertible City issue. Alongside the projects, the commissioners have conceived a collection of thematic essays and interdisciplinary contributions putting forward various points of view about the phenomenon of urban life. To this end, they invited futurologists, film-makers, choreographers and many others to pass on their views and positions relating to the city. Just as the city is a laboratory for different forms of life, so Convertible City reflects upon a variety of perceptions and interpretations expressed in the form of the exhibition, the catalogue and the transformation of the German Pavilion.”
Publisher: ARCH+
Release: September 8th, 2006
Languages: German/English
Format: Softcover, 1,3 x 22,9 x 29,2 cm, 152 pages
ISBN-10: 3931435091
ISBN-13: 978-3931435097