Deep Adaptation - The Spatial Dimension

The future, which we thought we had maybe another decade to prepare for, is now suddenly here. In all likelihood, we can expect further crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic or of similar severity, especially in the context of climate change. They will render the 21st century radically different from the 20th: conventions, techniques, and social practices we are familiar with will disappear. Our responsibilities and roles as architects and urban planners will also change fundamentally in this process. We will work in increasingly volatile and vulnerable contexts and constellations. Until now, many actors in politics, but also in academia and research, have played down or denied the vulnerability of our urban structures to the risks that are the direct effects of our current way of life. In the search for alternative and, in a sense, more realistic perspectives, Jem Bendell’s concept of “Deep Adaptation”, which has been widely and controversially discussed since its first publication in 2018, calls for a shift: he urges us to prepare for the collapse of certain systems that currently govern our lives – and to see this as an opportunity for positive change. This change and the resulting challenges we are facing are primarily not technological, but above all social, economic, and organisational in nature. Moreover, they are highly interdependent and all-encompassing; they require systemic change, profound transformations, and adaptations of action. It is therefore not a question of developing technical solutions in isolation, but rather of fundamentally rethinking the way we live, operate, work, travel, and interact. This issue of SPOOL seeks to explore the spatial dimension of the Deep Adaptation concept and how it can be put to use in the spatial disciplines such as urban planning, landscape planning, urban design, and architecture

The quest for better housing - Individual reconstruction and Situational Analysis of participatory housing in the framework of Modell Steiermark, Austria

This study offers insight into a crucial period of the provision of housing in Austria. Modell Steiermark was a set of public policies that highly valued the importance of architecture and spatial-planning and led to the creation of subsidized housing projects that integrated the future inhabitants in the process of planning and use. This study is committed to two research interests, on one hand it aims to shed light on this period and its accompanying discourses as a whole, on the other hand it investigates the motivational background of the involved architects. The methodical framework of Situational Analysis (Clarke, 2005) based on Grounded Theory Methodology (Glaser, Strauss 1967) is used to delve into the first aspect, to understand the framework, the surrounding parameters, to depict the actors and actants and to discuss the major and minor discourses that are entangled in the situation. This part of the study is based on historical sources. The second aspect, the individual motivational background of the involved architects, is investigated using the methodical framework of biographical research based on narrative interviews (Schütze 1976, Rosenthal 2004). Documentary Method (Bohnsack 2003, Bohnsack et. al., 2010) provides the framework to analyse these narrative interviews. It empirically extracts the orientation framework that formed the basis for actions of these architects. This study enriches the repertoire of methods and puts to test two “non-canonical” approaches that, while being highly regarded in the scientific disciplines where they have been conceived, are not commonly used in architectural sciences

It’s too late for pessimism: How the Deep Adaptation Agenda is relevant for teaching in the spatial disciplines

The crises we face today call for a careful assessment of our collective and individual understandings and responses. The past decades have shown us that acknowledgement of the emergencies alone is not sufficient to address the problems, especially within the complex context and conditions of the built environment. In the face of ‘inevitable’ change, and of current and future challenges, this urges us to direct a critical glance towards how we understand and frame the problems as spatial practitioners, how we position ourselves towards them, and how our ethical and professional responsibilities and agencies must change. As an open question and a long-term endeavour, this echoes within the context of academia. However, a central position has yet to emerge. In this article, we give an account of our experiences by taking a closer look at the approaches, formats, and method we have employed at the Professorship of Urban Design at TU Munich and elaborate on how these concerns can be embedded in the content, systems, and structures of teaching, and how the Deep Adaptation Agenda plays a facilitating role in this ongoing attempt

Using Grounded Theory and Situational Analysis to fathom the Field of Architecture

This contribution is based on my actual Ph.D. research project 'The Quest for Meaning - A Situational Analysis of the Modell Steiermark', which I currently undertake at the Faculty of Architecture, Politecnico di Torino (Italy). It will critically reflect the methodological framework that constitutes the basis for this project

Elemente der Architektur - Das Ende der Treppe? / Elements of architecture - The end of the staircase

The article looks at and presents the history and typology of the staircase. It's considered to be threatened with extinction and can only survive if used as an emergency exit. The staircase's demise started about 100 years ago. But more recent (albeit isolated) examples suggest it might be experiencing a renaissance. New findings and social trends encourage this conviction

The lesson of tyrolean Modernism Siegfried Mazagg and the Berghof in Seefeld

The article introduces Siegfried Mazagg, central player in the interwar-period of Tyrolean modernism. It then depicts the various references to the regional building tradition and the interrelation to his contemporaries using the example of his opus magnum "Berghof"

New public spaces in Turin - social-space-analysis

Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersNeue Freiräume in Turin Stadt -und Sozialraumanalyse Der Wandel Turins zur postindustriellen Stadt verändert durch den damit verbundenen Stadtumbau das Erscheinungsbild der Stadt nachhaltig. Anhand der Untersuchung von 3 Plätzen in Turin, wovon einer davon als Referenz im Bestand gewählt wurde, wird der Transformationsprozess in seinen Auswirkungen auf öffentliche Räume veranschaulicht. Mithilfe verschiedener Methoden der Stadt- und Sozialraumanalyse werden Form und Bedeutung der neuen Räume sowie Nutzungsformen und -muster zueinander in Bezug gesetzt.14