Author Description

(english edition) "No Trust, No City!" was the longtime credo on their website; "SomeIdeas for Better Cities" was their first joint lecture series; and Acting in Publicwas their first book. For over twenty years, the architecturecollective raumlaborberlin has been searching for new spaces ofencounter and for ways of achieving cooperative urban development.Together with experts from various disciplines, they experiment with newforms of urban practice, participation, and the joint production ofspace. Polylemma explores the work of the collective fromdiverse perspectives. Its nine members visit the sites of their work,come together with long-standing colleagues and critics, dissect themechanisms behind their actions, and reflect on the tools and methods oftheir research-based practice. Examining numerous projects, theydiscuss strategies for learning together, experimental building,radical recycling, and cooperative urban development. The book is a callto action: space becomes an actor that fundamentally questions designitself and the role of architects. It offers an extensive collection ofphotos and drawings, analyses and ideas, tutorials and buildinginstructions, that continually test and explore the parameters foraction in urban space. Polylemma asks: How do we want to livetogether in the future? It is a request to think space openly; a pleafor the city as a sphere of action.