........................................................................................................................................ iii Lay Summary .................................................................................................................................v Preface ........................................................................................................................................... vi Table of

Empty house : real estate and theatricality in Vancouver's downtown

This article examines the agency of unrealized megaprojects in bolstering economic activity, legitimizing political regimes, and expanding designer’s portfolios. It argues that such proposals serve...

Architectural rumors: unrealized megaprojects in Baku, Azerbaijan and their politico-economic uses

The notion of "familiar" has recently become crucial in the debate generated by Everyday Aesthetics. In this essay, I will explore this concept in the theories of Arto Haapala and Yuriko Saito, then I will examine the notion of familiar - and some antonym notions (i.e. strange, uncanny, alien) - while embracing a phenomenological approach. Referring to German phenomenologist Gernot Bohme's theory of atmospheres, my paper compares the notion of a glass house, theorised by Modernism, and the notion of a shell house, seen from different perspectives by Walter Benjamin, Gaston Bachelard and Juhani Pallasmaa. I will finally draw a parallel with the notion of strange possibly degenerating into the idea of uncanny or alien, for instance when the transparency of glass is used as a tool for control or when it is embodied in the digital screens of hypertechnological homes.

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From Familiar to Uncanny. Aesthetics of Atmospheres in Domestic Spaces

In the 2000s, the post-critical position emerged as a rejection of architectural criticism. Post-critics prophesied the merging of design and discourse, and the emergence of self-explanatory works ...

Bjarke Ingels and the Return of Representation: A Challenge to the Post-Critical

Christian And Oriental Philosophy Of Art

Yes is More is the easily accessible but unremittingly radical manifesto of Copenhagen-based architectural practice Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG.Unlike a typical architectural monograph, this book uses the comic book format to express its groundbreaking agenda for contemporary architecture. It is also the first comprehensive documentation of BIG's trailblazing practice-where method, process, instruments, and concepts are constantly questioned and redefined. Or, as the group itself says:"Historically, architecture has been dominated by two opposing extremes: an avant-garde full of crazy ideas, originating from philosophy or mysticism; and the well organized corporate consultants that build predictable and boring boxes of high standard. Architecture seems entrenched: naively utopian or petrifyingly pragmatic. We believe there is a third way between these diametric opposites: a pragmatic utopian architecture that creates socially, economically, and environmentally perfect places as a practical objective. At BIG we are devoted to investing in the overlap between radical and reality. In all our actions we try to move the focus from the little details to the BIG picture." Bjarke Ingels attracts highly talented coworkers, but also gifted and ambitious clients from all over the world. He then creates intelligent synergies from wild energies and unforeseen dynamics, and transforms them into surprising, functional, valuable, and beautiful solutions to the specific and complex challenges in each task. BIG projects have won awards from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Architecture Biennale, as well as many other international prizes. Yes is More is a play on words that represents the company's ethos and sums up its irreverent attitude towards excessive formalism, and its determination to involve the population at large in its creations. As an extension of its methods and results, its debut monograph uses the most approachable and populist means of communication available-the comic.

Big

Papers

Yes is More. An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution