future.lab 13

“Look at the faces of the city” – this is the call from urban sociologist Ingrid Breckner. It is precisely the diverse urban milieus that give the city a special, unmistakable face, which radiates out into the public space. Recognizing this requires sharpening our awareness of the specific values and characteristics, of the diverse cultural, social, and economic resources of urban space, both within the city itself and in its expanding areas. What is crucial here is not only the detached view of planners, but also their confrontation with the personal perspectives of city dwellers and thus producers of space.

Urban planning and development have been undergoing a paradigm shift for some time now, which is undermining the traditional concept of modern planning. In particular, the dogma of classical scientific approaches, to which parts of urban planning and spatial planning had been committed since their inception, is coming under increasing pressure to justify itself. But even the conventional, self-evident or pragmatic standards of urban planning are dissolving into thematic strands and scores that can achieve much more than simply managing the future environment in structural and volumetric terms.

As part of a future.lab at TU Wien, we address the issues and debates surrounding the growing metropolis, employing open approaches and methods. We seek out special places in the urban fabric of the city, as well as in the diverse areas of transformation in the suburbs and in the growth zones of the metropolis. We seek engagement with local people, we encourage conversation, we arouse curiosity, and we provoke reactions.

Foreword: Christoph Luchsinger and Rudolf Scheuvens