In this new era of disorientation and social hardship it isn’t pure formalism to rethink at utopia as a form of search, anticipation and projection in the realm of possibilities. Utopia: no place, good place, beautiful or unattainable place. The utopias are even more important in times of crisis because of their “unattainability”, because them [More]

This book offers the first comprehensive overview of alternative approaches to architectural practice. At a time when many commentators are noting that alternative and richer approaches to architectural practice are required if the profession is to flourish, this book provides multiple examples from across the globe of how this has been achieved and how it might be [More]

Many believe that the moral mission of architecture has been in serious decline for the last 25 years. In this important new book, Tom Spector points out the dilemmas of architectural practice and offers a theoretical and practical basis for an examination and transformation of the quandaries the profession now faces. What makes a good [More]

In a world of growing and multiplying cities, suburbanization is the most visible and pervasive phenomenon. While the single-family home subdivisions of North America continue to proliferate, many other forms of suburbanization are now emerging around the globe. The highrise housing estates around many European and Canadian cities; the belts and wedges of squatter settlements [More]

Make_Shift City looks at urban design strategies that renegotiate and emancipate shared spaces and resources within the city, showing how the increasing scarcity of resources and commons–particularly in Western cities–have far-reaching consequences for the everyday urban experience.

For Colombian architect Simon Vélez (born 1949), botany has been inextricable from architecture. His work has been significantly determined by his country’s tropical resources, in particular its lush vegetation and abundance of guadua bamboo–a common species throughout the valleys of Colombia. Working in close collaboration with the engineer-constructor Marcello Villegas, Vélez has devised bamboo buildings [More]

In this superbly probing book, investigative reporter Neuwirth relates the struggles and successes of some of the world’s most resourceful poor people, among the one billion urban squatters in countries like Brazil, India, Kenya and Turkey. Having lived alongside them in these four countries and thus gained firsthand knowledge of their daily lives, Neuwirth is [More]

The photographs of Lard Buurman (born 1969) capture the African city as a site of permanent change and incessant encounter. The images are the result of combining several snapshots in time into a single scene, enabling the viewer to take in a vast spread of urban space.

Our planet’s poorest people are also its largest construction force. Whether recent immigrants to growing cities or the last residents in shrinking cities, these occupiers have a great need and, often, no choice but to self-build. They use whatever can be found to create places to live, to work, and perhaps hide. Leftover Rightunder highlights [More]

From Camp to City examines the theme of the refugee camp in the context of urbanism and architecture. Using the examples of the refugee camps in the Algerian desert in which Sahrawis originally from the Western Sahara have been living for 35 years, the book looks at the “urban” aspects of these settlements. In contrast [More]