This upcoming topic from MONU 14: Editing Urbanism is pretty compelling, and worthy of checking out, as it implies a new paradigm shift for urbanism as a generative process to one of ‘editing’ the urban realm. While not specifically referenced in the call for submissions (which is more architecturally oriented), this ‘urban editing’ is dovetailed into some of the best ideas of landscape urbanism and ecological urbanism, in terms of the ” processes of selecting, correcting, condensating, organizing, or modifying the exitisting urban material. The process of urban editing will originate from an idea for the existing urban structures itself and will continue in a relationship between the users and producers of the city and the urban editors.”
:: excerpt from MONU 13 – image via MONU
Some addition info from the site:
“These days, the need for new buildings or entire city quarters is decreasing or even ceasing to exist altogether – at least in the Western world – due to the demographic changes and financially difficult times. Ever since, architects and urban designers, who were trained by schools that focused their education first of all on the past and mainly taught urban and architectural restoration, preservation, renovation, redevelopment, or adaptive reuse of old structures might be best prepared for a future, in which cities will be edited rather than extended or even newly designed.”
Quite interesting!
I’m an researcher on architecture who is developing and deepening on the idea of “edition” related to architecture from 2007!
I work on edition both in application research and my PHD in Architecture Project, and my professional work as an architect.
I could expose my first approximation about architecture and edition in many Congress and Conference along and 2009 in Spain, I led some links to the papers, unfortunately they’re on Spanish language:
II National Congress of Spanish Architects(June 2009): http://www.cscae.com/congresodearquitectos2009/images/stories/programa090621.pdf
V Congress on Creative cities in the Society of Imagination( October 2009):
http://www.slideshare.net/cacerescreativa/2-e3-paula-alvarez-comunicacion-1
“Capital and territory” International University of Andalusia Seminar:
http://ayp.unia.es/dmdocuments/com22.pdf
On 2009 I created an publishing company dedicated to the idea of editing the discipline and editable environments: VIB[]K. Our first book is coming on December. These one is in English, please check it out! .
http://www.edicionesvibok.net/presentacion/entornos-editables
Now my point is other… My focus is more complex… I address the “edition of architecture discipline” as well as the practice of designing “editable environments”. Furthermore, I explore both phenomenon as connected forms of actualizing architecture through emergent architectonic practices and theory. Finally I explore an archeology of edition: it’s not so new in architecture although the idea is specially helpful and clairvoyant in the present day.
Best regards and thanks for the link!
Paula Alvarez
Architect and editor