Performative Urbanism

Sophie Wolfrum
Nikolai Frhr. v. Brandis (Eds.)
Performative Urbanism
Generating and Designing
Urban Space

Special thanks to
——
the authors for their contribution to this publication and to the
previous symposium “performative urbanism” at TU Munich
in the Schaustelle / Pinkothek der Moderne in summer 2013.
——
Christopher Dell for his contribution designing and curating
the symposium “performative urbanism”.
——
Karl Hughes and Stephen Stark for their editorial support.
4

Performative Urbanism
Sophie Wolfrum
There is a long-running debate about the relation of
——
architecture and the urban realm or urbanity,
——
theory of space and urban practice,
——
city as an agglomeration of objects or pictorial views, and city
as an entity of processes and situations,
——
architecture in terms of its situational potential and the specific
process of designing architecture.
These considerations guide us to the core of our interest: the performative
character of the urban realm and the crucial role of
architecture.
Performative Urbanism seeks to go beyond the mere interpretation
or analysis of urban phenomena. The focus is not on perception or
interpretation, rather on action, politics, design. The performative
potential of architecture can be perceived as the key to a practice
of urban design, which involves a relational notion of space.
Thus architecture becomes a driving force within the urban realm.
Architecture as the art of articulating space (Umberto Eco) 1 is
gaining new relevance in urbanism; our time has been described
as the era of space (Foucault, Latour). 2 Performative Urbanism
understands architecture far beyond object and image. Situation,
utilization, process, and interaction are crucial notions to a performative
understanding of architecture, including architecture on an
urban scale. There is a discursive thread in architectural theory that
underlines the performative potential of architecture. This unique
potential sets architecture apart from all other professions: we are
part of the aesthetic reality of architecture, because with our own
body we are part of the architectonic space that we perceive and
produce at the same moment. It is always a complex architectural
situation we find ourselves in, in which we perceive architecture,
and in which, only then, architecture emerges as such.
The term performative originates from linguistic philosophy, in
which John L. Austin introduced a distinction between perfor-
1 — Eco 1972, p. 326.
2 — Foucault 1967, Latour 2005.
5

mance and performative. While performance solely delineates the
execution of an operation, performative constitutes a situation in
which articulation itself generates a new reality.
Architecture and urbanism understood in this way, focus on the
process-oriented character of spatial perception, spatial coherencies,
which become apparent in structures of incidents, the indeterminacy
of spatial structures, the difference of spaces. Herein, the
physical structures, material, touch and smell, the look and feel,
as well as the atmosphere are not subsidiary. Rather, the substance
of architecture is a precondition and a constituent of architectural
“events.” It is solely in performative incidents that this substance
obtains social and aesthetic relevance.
3 — De Certeau 1988, p. 188.
References
Certeau, Michel de: “Gehen in der
Stadt,” in: Kunst des Handelns. Berlin
1988, pp. 179–209.
Eco, Umberto: La struttura assente,
(Milano 1968), Einführung in die Semiotik.
München 1972.
Foucault, Michel: “Andere Räume.”
Lecture at Cercle d’Etudes Architecturales,
Paris 14. März 1967, in:
Barck, Karlheinz et al. (Eds.), Aisthesis.
Wahrnehmung heute oder Perspektiven
einer anderen Ästhetik. Leipzig
1990, pp. 34–46.
Latour, Bruno: Von der Realpolitik
zur Dingpolitik. Karlsruhe/Berlin
2005.
This book explores the hypothesis behind the following line of
argumentation:
1. The unfolding of this approach can be achieved in the context
of performativity debates in cultural studies, particularly in
theater studies.
2. Aesthetic practices – such as dérive, walking, etc. – not only
lead to a different perception of urbanity, but also new forms
of performance in the urban context. Performing in this regard,
this “play of steps” 3 generates urban space itself. How can this
be deployed as a productive force for urban design and urban
architecture?
3. Is designing architecture one part, and the actualization of
architecture in a performative incident another, separate from
each other? We discuss the relation between design and utilization/practice
by reference to actual architectural and urbanistic
projects.
4. We understand architecture as an art with the ability to synthesize
contradictory codes into a formal unity, and we understand
the aesthetics of performativity as decisive.
5. How can the urban be discussed in a more process-oriented
way, and how can urbanism be conceptualized by means of
its relational nexuses? And how precisely can the process of
designing contribute productively?
Performative Urbanism seeks to bring together architecture as an
art of articulating space, and the performative character of architecture
with the changing attitude in planning towards governance,
moderation of conflicting interests, and open processes. In this
regard, performative urbanism makes visible the urgency of architectural
design. Against this backdrop, do specific requirements
emerge for the design itself and the method of designing urban
space? This is the core question to which we would like to make
our contribution at the end of the journey.
6

Contents
Performative Urbanism — Generating and
Designing Urban Space 11
Sophie Wolfrum
Urban Situations 17
Markus Lanz
1. Performativity — State of Affairs
Performativity — State of Affairs 27
Introduction Part 1, Sophie Wolfrum
Performativity and Space 31
Erika Fischer-Lichte
The “Power” of the Performative 39
Dieter Mersch
Participate in (the) Public:
Audio Moves as Urban Performance (Part I) 49
Patrick Primavesi
Images57
Patrick Primavesi — Aslıhan Senel çc — Tim Rieniets
7

2. Relational Space
Relational Space — Perception and Analysis 67
Introduction Part 2, Nikolai Frhr. v. Brandis
Performative Mapping:
a Critical Practice of Public Space in Istanbul 73
Aslıhan Senel çc
Unmapping Space — Some Thoughts on Maps
and Performative Spaces 79
Tim Rieniets
City of Athletes 85
Theo Deutinger
Images97
Theo Deutinger — Bernd Kniess — Ton Matton
3. Generating Space
Designing Performatively —
Participation and Appropriation 107
Introduction Part 3, Max Ott
On UdN-Hotel? Wilhelmsburg 111
Bernd Kniess
On Performative Urbanism 117
Ton Matton
Grundbau und Siedler 123
BeL Architekten, Anne-Julchen Bernhard & Jörg Leeser
Assembling:
Performativity in the Work of Assemble 129
Assemble Studio, Mathew Leung & Giles Smith
With Cap, Beer, and Soup Together Against
Abandoned Buildings 133
Nonconform, Katharina Forster
8

Images137
BeL Architekten — Assemble Studio — Nonconform
4. Performative Urbanism
Producing City — Producing Space 147
Christopher Dell
Participate in (the) Public:
Audio Moves as Urban Performance (Part II) 153
Patrick Primavesi
The Performative Power of Architecture 163
Alban Janson
Who Said “Performative”?
Towards a Critical Posture 169
Valentina Signore
Design and Performativity —
Designing Performativity 177
Sophie Wolfrum
Authors 188
9

Performative Urbanism
Generating and Designing
Urban Space
Sophie Wolfrum
Patterns of Steps — Relational Space
City, movement, and bodily perception have been conceptualized
together for a long time. There is a rich history of productive conceptual
alliances. The sensory perception of urban space provides
insights that are equally significant to those gained by research in
libraries and cartography. City field trips and excursions, traveling,
the science of strolling or promenadology, 1 careful observations
of everyday life, intense involvement with the locality, and
the banality of transitory places, 2 all play an important role in
the emerging urban studies of the twentieth century. Michel de
Certeau wrote in 1980:
“The act of walking is to the urban system what expressing
oneself (the act of speaking) is to language or to formulated
statements. … The play of steps shape the space. They weave
the basic structure of places. In this sense, the movements of
pedestrians create one of the physical systems that constitute
the core of the city, but cannot be pinpointed to any particular
place or located, because they themselves create the space.” 3
In contemporary terms, Francesco Careri refers to the same thing
as walkscapes, where walking is considered to be an aesthetic
practice, and of course he also refers to the situationists, the radical
actionists of the nineteen-sixties. 4
The situationists surrounding Guy Debord put forward an urbanistic
approach called la dérive, meaning aimless rambling, movement
as a perception and as a shaper of space. 5 The aimlessness
of the flâneur, who strolled through Parisian alleys at the turn of
the century, is reflected half a century later in their concept of
aimless rambling. Another fifty years on, the Situationist International
is still held annually. 6 This, together with the concept of
psychogeography, the psychosocial shaping of space, has had a
great influence on urbanism, and its radicality makes it a recurring
reference point in the visual arts.
1 — Burckhardt 1995, pp. 150–175.
2 — Jackson 1994.
3 — De Certeau 1988, p. 188.
4 — Careri 2002.
5 — Debord 1958.
6 — Situativer Urbanismus, Arch+
183 (2007).
11

After the Stage Performance, Urban Void, May 2014
22

Score, Round the Corner, Dec 2011
23

Rain Shower, Porch Roof on Main Street, Feb 2011
24

1.
Performativity —
State of Affairs
25

Performativity — State of Affairs
Sophie Wolfrum
In philosophy of language, cultural studies, theater studies, and
theater arts, the concept of performativity has infused theoretical
debate for some time. This chapter explores the present state of
the debate with the help of three key protagonists and experts in
this field. Although originating in speech act theory, the notion of
performative power is an “element of a non-lingual practice. …” 1
Furthermore: “Performativity is not purely linguistic, but rather a
social phenomenon.” 2 On this basic insight, all applications of the
concept of performativity are founded. For about twenty years,
performative has been a key term in cultural studies – sometimes
referred to as performative turn. In practice, the terms performance
and performativity tend to be used quite carelessly, while
in theory, they are usually carefully distinguished. 3 This is why
the first chapter opens with a discussion of the term.
In German the distinction is made between “Performance, Performanz,
Performativität.” 4 Performance refers to the staging and
the production of a play or an art event (theater and performance
art). All the metaphors of theater and drama being used for the city
and the public realm may incorporate this meaning. 5 Performanz
means the execution of an act, as elaborated in speech act theory.
So far as we are aware, in English the same word is used for both,
which causes some confusion in German. Performativity refers
to the transformative power of an act. It is this aspect that we are
primarily interested in. It will be elucidated more precisely in the
three essays in this chapter.
Dieter Mersch is a philosopher who writes extensively about performativity
– examining performance art, art without art works, in
his book Ereignis und Aura (Event and Aura). 6 He concentrates in
his essay on the aspect of practice: “Not only is the concept of the
performative therefore relevant for the analysis of communications,
but also for the study of life forms, artistic processes, political
demonstrations, organizational forms, and economic transac-
1 — Krämer 2003, p. 23.
2 — Ibid., p. 23. Translated by SW.
3 — Hempfer, Volbers 2011.
4 — Hempfer, Volbers 2011, pp. 13–
43.
5 — Cf. Wolfrum, Introduction, pp.
11–16.
6 — Mersch 2002;.Kertscher, Mersch
2003.
27

Of course, noises and sounds, including music, also bear the strong
potential to bring forth a space atmospherically. Sounds resemble
odors in that they surround and envelop the perceiving subjects and
penetrate their bodies. The perceived sounds resound through the
body. Certain sounds might even trigger localized physical pain.
The person’s only defense against sound is to plug their ears. As
is the case with smells, people are usually defenselessly exposed
to the effects of sounds in spaces that contribute to its particular
spatiality. Sounds are capable of breaking down the body’s limits:
when a sound reverberates in a listener’s chest, inflicting physical
pain or stimulating goosebumps, he or she does not perceive
it as an outside force entering through their ears but as an inner
physical process that creates oceanic sensations. Through sound,
atmospheres open up and enter a person’s body.
Maybe the strongest impact spaces can have on people is through
lighting. Any change of light transforms the atmosphere and arouses
different sensations, feelings, affects, and emotions in the people
present in the space. Light is absorbed not only by the human eye
but also by the skin. The human organism is particularly sensitive
to light. People exposed to continuous changes of light will find
their disposition altering frequently and abruptly without being
able to consciously register, much less control, these mood swings.
Thus, light greatly impacts the people present in a space.
These brief remarks give an overview of what spaces can potentially
do to people via the spatial effects of proportion, materiality,
and atmosphere.
Spaces are performative in at least two respects. On the one hand,
they cannot be understood as an isolated container or merely as
a geometrical architectural construction. Rather, they are brought
forth as particular spaces through the ways in which people perceive
and make use of them, allowing a certain spatiality to emerge
from this interplay. In this regard, spaces are unpredictable and
ambiguous. They are performative in the sense that they are not
fixed entities, but come into being every time someone is perceiving
and using them. In this regard, they are transitory and
ephemeral. On the other hand, they are performative insofar as
they transform the people using them. The transformative power
of the performative here works on two levels. Spaces are transformed
through the particular ways people use them, while the
people entering and using these spaces are in turn transformed by
the spaces through the effects of location, proportion, materiality,
and atmosphere.
38

The “Power” of the Performative
Dieter Mersch
Equivocations in Terms
The concept of performativity is used equivocally in philosophy.
In the philosophy of language, it addresses the implementation of
a speech act (Austin, Searle), in the theory of action, the achievement
of an act, in art and aesthetics, the presentation of an art
action (performance art, action art), in ritual theory, the “liminal”
process of transition (Turner), in theater studies, the enactment of
a “drama” in “aesthetic” co-presence (Fischer-Lichte).
In speech act theory, John Austin and John Searle give preference
to the conventionality of acts in order to be able to demarcate their
performatives analytically. Subsequently, to say something is to do
something, intended in the sense that it is instantiated in the “real
world” – the classic example of this being a promise, which, once
made, morally obligates one in such a way that non-compliance
can have social consequences. 1
Jürgen Habermas derives from this a complete social philosophy
of communicative reason, which details the universality of normative
understandings embedded in obligations. 2 Shoshana Felman,
by contrast, examines the act itself based on Don Juan’s
inflationary promise to marry, in order to point out the systematic
instability inherent in the “promise of language” itself: the chronic
possibility of its refraction, inasmuch as language precisely does
not do what it says. 3
Judith Butler, on the other hand, elaborates the political purport of
speech and makes clear that performative acts also create social
facts, since they are, by the same token, able to subvert shared
norms and to profoundly disturb the social order. At the same
time, she emphasizes the fundamental irreversibility of the performative:
A “hate speech” can only be punished at the cost of its
repetition. 4 And in his pointedly deconstructive reading of Austin,
Jacques Derrida demonstrates that convention cannot be a reliable
1 — Austin, John L.: On the Theory
of Speech Acts (How to do things with
Words). Stuttgart 1979, esp. pp. 87ff.,
and John R. Searle, Speech Acts.
Frankfurt am Main 1973.
2 — Cf. Habermas, Jürgen: “What is
Universal Pragmatics?” in: Apel, Karl-
Otto (Ed.): Language Pragmatics and
Philosophy. Frankfurt am Main 1976,
pp. 174–272.
3 — Felman, Shoshana: The Scandal
of the Speaking Body. Don Juan with
Austin, or Seduction in Two Languages.
Stanford 2003.
4 — Butler, Judith: Hate Speaks, the
Politics of the Performative. Berlin
1998, especially pp. 30ff.
39

in motion, which, however, although we have a responsibility for
it, mostly without our knowledge or power of intervention, in an
instant removes itself from us and turns our intentions and motives
on their heads. To speak, as to act, is subject to a frightening dispersion
and decontrol, so the performative at every moment contains
the possibility of a rupture or dislocation.
To “turn out” a sentence means already to have “turned” it and to
have exposed it to its “alienation.” In other words, in the performative
we are unprotected and confronted with a chronic incompleteness,
an irretrievable unavailability. 17
One can thus designate the performative as the unlawful, ungovernable
or unpredictable. It is the power that includes the power of
otherness. Once performed, it refers not only to an irreversibility,
but also forces us to something that is beyond our intentions and
breaks with our sovereignty and freedom. Indeed, on account of
this pressure, the promotion of performative ratios, we are continuously
forced to react in ways that we cannot have intended,
and so involved in processes that we have neither “made” ​nor
whose dynamics we are able to determine – which, in other words,
although responsible for our actions, still necessitate us to an
equally unacceptable and unbearable unjustifiability.
17 — Related thoughts are evoked in:
Mersch, Dieter: “Chiasmus. On the
Indeterminate Space,” in: Ingolf Dalferth,
Philipp Stoellger, Andreas Hunziker
(Eds.): Impossibilities. Tübingen
2009, pp. 21–37.
One can also observe this with respect to the urban. Although
the concept of the performative may rest uneasily on the always
structurally ordered city, insofar as it seems to provide us with the
“image” of stasis, the universality of the performative leaves its
subtle trace in all processes and their possibilities and impossibilities.
What the event can be in the face the urban, which means
“irreversibility,” which the reality-forming power of the performative
brings about, with its “misappropriations,” its unpredictability
and unavailability, which may equally mean its violence, only
the individual case can decide, which is nonetheless encountered
every day. Neither can urban development planning ever be eventbased
– that would be a contradiction in terms – nor the tableaux
of urban planning ever unfold as envisaged. There are always
counter-finalities and unpredictabilities which, surprisingly and
anarchically, come “out of nowhere” to undermine the initial project
and land it in absurdity. No fixed brick architecture is flexible
enough to leave the gravity of its life behind it, just as, conversely,
no design is open enough to account for potential and unforeseeable
futures, for no space remains immune to misappropriation
just as, conversely, the possibility remains of its re-transcription,
its inscription of the improbable, and its most audacious “leaps.”
48

Participate in (the) Public: Audio Moves
as Urban Performance (Part I)
Patrick Primavesi
The city is more than the sum of its premises, sites, and buildings;
it is also the flexible ways in which people use, share, and
change these spaces. In the last few decades, perspectives on urban
planning have increasingly been influenced by processes of civic
participation. Strategies of urban development, of political and
economic decision-making have integrated procedures of participation
and complaints management, but they are also confronted
with tactics of creative protest and performance practices. Various
kinds of urban performance have thus become a new focal point
for architectural studies. But who are the actors, and what are the
means and ends of these performances? How do they relate to art
and politics in urban space?
Based on introductory remarks on participation and the public
sphere, this chapter will outline performance practices that adopt
the everyday use of audio devices and guided tours for artistic
research on urban behavior and experience. A closer look at some
recent works by Stefan Kaegi, LIGNA, and others can show that
current artistic projects in urban space often focus on the integration
of individual movement into fluid, mobile, and non-representational
structures. Even without explicitly addressing political issues, these
works and projects may foster a new kind of civic commitment,
or at least an awareness of common behavior in the public sphere.
On the other hand, participation has become a commodity, an
important element of neoliberal ideology and consumerist conduct.
The political relevance of performance practices in urban space is
not to be taken for granted; it is even more fugitive than the events
themselves, or comes into view only retrospectively. There is an
increasing number of audio performance walks and installations,
reflecting on hidden traces of the urban past and memories of the
people as basic element of a city’s cultural and political life. Participate
in (the) public has a double meaning: participate publicly
in any kind of activity, or participate in the public as such, in the
49

1
2
58

Performative Mapping: a Critical Practice of Public Space in
Istanbul, Aslıhan Senel çc
1 — Representations of Taksim Square and Gezi Park in maps
from 1950 to 2006. Sources: Ali Saim Ülgen, Tourist Plan of Istanbul
(Istanbul: Istanbul Library and Touring and Automobile
Club of Turkey, 1950); M. Kerim Çalapverdi, Tarih ve Deniz
Şehri İstanbul (Istanbul, a city of history and sea) (Istanbul: Ministry
of Tourism and Publicity, 1966); Ümit Yurtseven, Beyoğlu
Haritası (Map of Beyoğlu) (Istanbul: Milliyet Yayın, 1975);
Anon., A–Z Istanbul (Istanbul: Asya Limited, 1999) and Anon.,
Architectural Guide to Istanbul (Istanbul: Chamber of Architects
of Turkey, 2006).
2 — Mapping of Borders of Taksim Square by Nefize Öztürk.
59

Relational Space — Perception and Analysis
Hic sunt dracones.
Nikolai Frhr. v. Brandis
With Lefebvre´s works, we have a theory that can offer a key to decipher
urban phenomena. As is known, he moves away from thinking
about space as a statically defined a priori condition towards
a multifaceted, socially produced, enacted structure; he conceives
space as a set of relations that evolves over time. Therefore, spatial
configurations cannot be seen independently of the observer. Hence,
space – as time – only exists in relation to consciousness, rather
than as an absolute condition. Taking that into account, it becomes
clear that cartography as a tool of epistemology and acquisition of
knowledge is deeply challenged, and seems to fall short of requirements.
In short, it is not about describing urbanity as an object; it
is about conceiving the urban as a process. Not one specific state
corresponds to a specific state of a balanced equilibrium, only the
processes of transformation, continually take place. Thus, the aim of
an examination cannot be an assumed fixed state that exists according
to standard conditions, but the process of transformation itself. 1
However, focusing on transformation does not mean that discussing
objects has become obsolete. Quite the contrary, as enacting
social relations, (re)produces – contingent upon time – distances
and vicinities, dense and expansive areas, accesses and openness, as
well as concealments, borders, connections, public realms as well as
private retreats, centralities and accumulations as well as peripheral
spheres. Acting becomes the pivotal point.
Latour, though, shows in his theory that acting can be conceived
in a broader sense: hence, objects – like architectonical objects,
but also maps – have effectuate power, namely as actants. They
do not determine in a compulsory form, but create – within a network
– additional set of options to take action, which is why there
is talk of an urban fabric.
However, “Conceiving the urban as produced,” Dell claims, “occasionally
as something performatively enacted, means that for the
analysis, the problem emerges that it cannot refer back to stable
1 — Cf. Dell 2014, chapter: “Form.
Funktion. Struktur,” pp. 98–108.
67

communication and capital.” 22 On the other hand, not being on
the map is equivalent to not being existent; only those who do not
surrender to the ubiquitous exploitation society are sentenced to
invisibility, are deported to Ban-Opticon.
However, neither politics, nor game playing are possible under
conditions of total visibility. Hidden agendas, secret strategies and
motivations constitute the human, Han argues. They are essential;
without them we would be machines. Hence, total transparency
undermines politics and gives rise to postpolitical space, instantaneously
eliminating public space, too.
Finally, what will improve our maps, our quality of critique and
discourse in the urban era? Will we do any better, if we know
everything, if we receive total access to all information, if we
achieve total transparency? Probably, neither relying on the cybernetic
Bazooka of empirical Big Data in mapping with the use of
latest technology, nor surrendering hidden agendas, political practices,
motivations, personal sensitivities (accompanied by voyeurism
and exhibitionism), etc. to total transparency, will allow us to
escape this dilemma. Instead, invisibility, opacity, the concealment
of a hidden agenda, not being on the map, can be seen as residues
of the conditio humana.
Sloterdijk proposed the antique ideal of a succeeding life as a corrective
to the impositions of the rational. 23 This ideal promotes a
cheerful serenity, a letting things be, rather than promoting the
instruments of critique, the concept, the improvement, the rule.
As this book shows, there are still many realms left in the pursuit
of deciphering urban phenomena. However, many dragons lie in
wait beyond the horizon. And perhaps that is not such a bad thing.
22 — Han 2013, p. 25.
23 — Sloterdijk 1983.
References
Bauman, Zygmunt: Modernity and Ambivalence. Ithaca 1991.
Dell, Christopher: Das Urbane. Wohnen. Leben. Produzieren. Berlin 2014.
Franck, Georg: Ökonomie der Aufmerksamkeit: Ein Entwurf. München 1998.
Han, Pyŏng-ch´ŏl: Transparenzgesellschaft. Berlin 2013.
Lefebvre, Henri: The production of Space (1974). Oxford 1991.
Lefebvre, Henri: “Die Produktion des Raums.” in: An Architektur 01–03, July 2002
Lefebvre, Henri: Die Revolution der Städte: La Revolution urbaine (1970). Hamburg 2014.
Meckel, Miriam: Wir verschwinden: Der Mensch im digitalen Zeitalter. Berlin 2013.
Neufert, Ernst: Bauentwurfslehre, 40 th edition. Wiesbaden 2012. First edition, 1936.
Neufert, Ernst and Peter Neufert, Bousmaha Baiche, Nicholas Walliman: Architects Data
(3rd ed.). New York 2002.
Rousseau, Jean-Jaques: Vom Gesellschaftsvertrag (Du contrat social ou principes du droit
politique, 1762). Ditzingen 1986.
Sloterdijk, Peter: Kritik der zynischen Vernunft. Berlin 1983.
72

Performative Mapping:
a Critical Practice of Public Space
in Istanbul
Aslıhan Senel çc
Maps as representations of territorial knowledge and mapmaking
as a practice of territorial claim has a long and distinguished history
related to power. 1 The image of a map as a direct representation
of a place, providing unlimited vision and access to knowledge,
creates a powerful impression of democracy in the public
imagination. As such, maps have been an integral part of the actual
construction of public spaces and creating an identity of public
and private in the urban built environment. Arguably, the space
of the map precedes, replaces, and/or augments the experience of
actual urban space, and even more so with the interactive maps
and their views of streets, like Google’s Street View for example.
With the interactive online maps, it is possible to “walk” through
the city, enter the semipublic spaces of commercial buildings, and
furthermore see different parts of the world with no restrictions of
time, distance, and expense. From another perspective, maps may
be as restrictive as the actual urban space, due to their selective
and ideological information expressions.
Although it is hard to draw definitive relationships between the
representations of public and private space in maps and the ways
in which those spaces are organized and experienced, exploration
of potential links may suggest alternative approaches to understanding
public space specific to Istanbul. For this, I propose a
kind of mapping that offers a performative practice rather than
the representative practices of traditional mapmaking. Following
Judith Butler’s notion of performativity, I argue that mapmaking is
governed by social norms and the historical context in representing
place, yet it may diverge from norms and create new places, when
considered a temporal and self-reflexive practice. 2 The performative
character of mapping allows us to develop multiple embodied
experiences of place. This is especially meaningful at a time when
Istanbul and its public spaces are undergoing rapid change; however,
static and authoritative urban representations lack the ability
to respond to the contemporary situation in which we live.
1 — For the history of mapmaking in
relation to power relations, see Denis
E. Cosgrove: “Prospect, Perspective
and the Evolution of the Landscape
Idea” Transactions of the Institute of
British Geographers, vol. 10, no. 1,
1985, pp. 45–62; and Denis Wood:
The Power of Maps. London 1992.
2 — Butler, Judith: Gender Trouble.
New York 1999.
73

Mapping of the Trees in Gezi Park included carefully marking the
location of the trees and creating an identity card for each tree. The
mapping of Gezi Park allowed us to personally engage in this site,
and produced an unprecedentedly close-up knowledge of one of
the most contested places in Istanbul, a place represented by the
authorities as simply a “park” with a “few trees.” The mapping
of the trees of Gezi Park transformed the place into a unique park
with specific trees for us, the mappers.
Gezi Park is now a globally renowned site of resistance to capitalist
policies, which put large-scale urban developments before
citizens’ right to the city. In June 2013, the park was occupied for
fifteen days to stop its demolition as part of the “reconstruction”
of the Taksim Square, which resulted in tunnels being built under
the square for roads and public transport and the removal of the
trees around the square – despite wide opposition of professional
associations and the public due to the non-transparent construction
process. The Mapping of the Trees in Gezi Park was a response
to this non-transparent process. It aimed at acknowledging the
trees as commons, create an identity for the trees with their unique
characteristics – such as their individual shadows, the space created
below their branches and around their trunks, and their different
colors. Each student individually engaged with the trees,
documented the spatial characteristics with their own bodies as
the scale of measure, took a photo with each tree and collected the
fallen leaves in order to create a memory of the place. As a result,
an ID card was produced for each tree. An interesting result of
this mapping was that the students developed a personal relationship
with the place, attended the ongoing meetings against the
demolition, copied the ID cards, and distributed them during the
occupation of the park.
The boundaries of privacy are challenged by distorting views of
public space as in Mapping the Superimposed Views, new hybrids
between public and private space are defined by documenting the
everyday tactics of citizens as in the Mapping of Borders of Taksim
Square, and a public space becomes an intimate place through
repetitive and rigorous activities of documentation as in Mapping
of the Trees in Gezi Park. The performative mapping examples
above suggest a new understanding of place, one that is being
recreated during each observation and documentation process.
This performative mapping allows the mapmaker to engage in a
place in multiple ways, by temporarily appropriating the site, by
participating in its everyday life, by communicating with others,
and by opening this place to criticism. All these new engagements
introduce new limits and levels of publicness to the urban space.
78

Unmapping Space — Some Thoughts
on Maps and Performative Spaces
Tim Rieniets
The Power of Maps and Their Limitations
If we consider a space merely with our senses, we can grasp only
what our sensory organs perceive in a particular place and at a
particular moment. Under optimal viewing conditions our perception
of the space is restricted only by the curvature of the earth.
However, the territory we are actually able to overlook is much
smaller. Especially in urban areas, the perceptible space is considerably
reduced, and it varies according to the location and level of
development. A higher point allows a view of streets or perhaps
whole districts. On the street, however, our perception is limited
by the surrounding buildings and rarely reaches further than a few
hundred meters.
But thanks to the development of land survey and cartographic
techniques, we have a powerful means of overcoming the limitations
of our perception. While our individual perception is tied to
our senses and bodily abilities and to what they can capture from
one particular viewpoint and at one particular moment, cartography
allows us to perceive a territory from many viewpoints and at different
times, before combining the multiple perceptions into one
graphic representation.
These techniques enable us to consider spaces of any size independently
of their viewpoint and viewing conditions. Using maps, we
can comprehend the city as a whole, which otherwise can only be
perceived as a series of spaces and situations. It is only on a map
that houses, streets, and squares unite to form the spatial entity
called “city,” and hence, it is only with the help of maps that cities
could have become the subject of urban planning as we know it.
But this is just one of many advantages maps can offer. In addition,
they allow us to retain our perception of space over time. While
our personal memories tend to distort reality and to fade over time,
maps keep their information and allow us to share it with fellow
humans – regardless of where they are and when they will read
79

Though in this article athletes, hammer
throwers, and other people are
mentioned in masculine form, women
and men are meant alike. For the sake
of a natural reading flow, no distinction
was made between the sexes.
P.S.
Hammer throwing without referees is planning without a map.
Plan and map complement each other. The plan originates from
the place as an idea and imagines the space as conceivable and
designable, while the map originates from the surface, which is
waiting for something to happen. The plan is active and lives in
the future; the map is passive and lives in the now.
Both are abstractions from reality. The hammer thrower (active)
remains on the locality and creates a plan to influence his surroundings
with his abilities and skills, while the surroundings (passive)
wait to be affected. The plan as intention and idea, and the map
as surface to measure and interpret, are here presented in their
purest form.
The reason cartography is gaining in importance today could be
ascribed to the fact that there is an oversupply of (expert) athletes
who exercise and compete continuously, while there is a lack of
people that measure and evaluate, a lack of referees and trainers.
1
96

2
3
City of Athletes, Theo Deutinger
1 — Thor in his chariot
2 — IKEA hammer throwing, photo:
© Theo Deutinger
3 — Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889
97

2
3
102

4
5
103

106

Designing Performatively — Participation and Appropriation
Max Ott
The German Magazin ARCH+ recently published several issues
questioning the contemporary role of architecture and architectural
design. 1 At first glance, it appears there is an open confrontation
of different perspectives:
1. Accepting architectural history as social history in undisputed
relevance.
2. The emphasis on the social responsibility of architecture in the
age of globalization.
3. The accentuation of the autonomy of the discipline and its formal
“performances” (intra-architectonic reality). 2 On closer
inspection, this turns out to be an invitation to the reader to
combine these points of view and to refer them to each other. 3
This paves the way to understanding architectural and spatial
design as a practice, equally located in the spheres of Lefebvre’s
conceived and lived space. 4 This again should encourage us to
explore Lefebvre´s representation of space and representational
spaces within their interaction, which “probably … only in
favorable circumstances … constitute a coherent whole,” 5 while
again and again asking what the “public domain of architecture”
is. “Who forms the public for architecture? The architects themselves?
Or the clients who commission the work? Or the people
– and that means all of them – who use architecture?” Giancarlo
de Carlo asked. 6
Herein lies the specific potential of design approaches that focus
explicitly on the performative qualities of built architecture and
the process of design, and derive conceptual strategies from this:
these strategies act beyond the concept of an architectural production,
“which prescribes systematic process techniques to an extent
as therapy for modern society.” 7 Rather, these approaches seek
ways to explain the relevance of architectural and spatial concepts
of design through direct cooperation with the acting subject who
appropriates and produces space.
1 — Cf. Arch+ 210, 211/12, 214, 215.
2 — Burkhardt 2014, p.114. B. uses a
well-known topos of Bruno Reichlin
und Martin Steinmann from the nineteen-seventies,
which was introduced
by an issue of Archithese also called
“Realismus in der Architektur.” Archithese
19 (1976), pp. 3–11.
3 — Arch+ 214 (2014), p. 13.
4 — Lefebvre 1992.
5 — Lefebvre 1992, p. 40.
6 — de Carlo 2013, p. 412.
7 — Meili 2001, p. 1.
107

On the day of the formal opening, I brought fourteen bottles of
sparkling wine and fifty glasses, expecting a few people, but over
1,000 people came to participate.
Bernadette LaHengst, the musician from Berlin, sang the complaint
song in a procession along the fourteen buildings. If you
watch the video clip, you will notice that working with a musician
like her, you can reach the people in a way that is impossible
for an urban planner. With the language we speak, we will never
reach this emotional level. But by bringing all skills and talents
together in this way – like inhabitants singing a song that has a lot
to do with all the architectural and urban problems – urban design
comes alive.
The current status is that seven of the buildings have been sold and
will be renovated soon. The mayor is really happy and said that
the village has changed; they have emancipated themselves. The
council meetings are more effective, and the people are prouder.
Exactly what a city should be about!
122

Grundbau und Siedler
Shell and Settler
BeL Architekten, Anne-Julchen Bernhard & Jörg Leeser
We participated in a competition for the International Building
Exhibition IBA in Hamburg, and were asked to do something
called “Smart Price Housing.” This related to experimental, residential
construction in Wilhelmsburg, very close to the location
of the UdN (Universität der Nachbarschaften). At the IBA, unlike
the UdN, we were forced into an unexpected situation. We won
the competition and the IBA told us to find an investor. We did
not read the brief carefully enough. We needed to find an investor
and the municipality had no intention of financing the project.
When we started, we thought, “How could we achieve something
that guarantees quality and low-budget housing?” This is
in Cologne, Köln-Chorweiler, a social housing satellite city in the
north of Cologne. We went there on our bicycles and looked at
the prefab construction, looked at the conditions there – which,
as we know, are not so good, for many such satellite cities – but
we found something that we were really intrigued by. It was a
sort of resistance: in the most austere environment, people had
managed to occupy space and create something. We don’t know
exactly what the function of these spaces was. We know that there
was, a dysfunctional balcony, for example, and people had made
it functional for themselves.
It may be a surprise that we do have informal housing in Germany.
It is not only Brazil, Egypt, or any other developing country
that has poverty problems. It also exists in the north of Cologne.
It is a settlement called Heckpfad and it is fifty years old. For
some reason, which is linked to the Second World War, refugees
returned to Germany and started to settle in that area. There was
a poisonous lake to the north, so nobody cared about the property
and it was simply squatted. It would not be Germany if the mail
were not delivered on time and these days they have electricity. Of
course, squatters care for their little gardens and over the course
of forty years they have expanded their mansions, sometimes by
Transcript of a lecture delivered as
part of the symposium “Performative
Urbanism” on July 2013 by Anne-
Julchen Bernhard and Jörg Leeser of
BeL Architekten.
123

Wandfliesen
10 mm Fliesen im Dünnbett
Fermacell Abdichtung
25 mm Fermacell Trockenestrich
SE
10 mm Trittschalldämmung
- Floorrock SE
200 mm Multipor DEO
10 mm Randdämmstreifen
200 mm Multipor DEO
Armierung
10 mm Xella Innenputz
Fussleiste
15 mm Parkett
25 mm Fermacell Trockenestrich
SE
10 mm Trittschalldämmung
- Floorrock SE
200 mm Multipor DEO
10 mm Randdämmstreifen
200 mm Multipor DEO
Armierung
10 mm Xella Innenputz
8.1
Ober-Bodenarbeiten / Trockenestrich
Stand: 12/2012
8.1
Ober-Bodenarbeiten // Trockenestrich
Stand: 12/2012
i
8.1
Ober-Bodenarbeiten / Trockenestrich
Stand: 12/2012
Produkte:
Wohnräume: Fermacell Trockenestrich Typ 2 E 22, Plattenmaß 1250 x 500 x 25 mm
Bäder: Fermacell Trockenestrich Typ Powerpanel TE, Plattenmaß 1250 x 500 x 25 mm
Mineralische Trittschalldämmung Rockwool Floorrock SE, plattenmaß 1000 x 625 x 10 mm
Fermacell Estrich Kleber greenline
Sicherheitsvorkehrungen:
Sicherheitsvorschriften GuV, Hersteller und Bauleitung beachten.
Hilfsmittel:
Maurertreppe, Sicherheitsleiter
1
3
Werkzeuge:
Schlauchwaage, Metermaß, Wasserwaage kurz und lang, Tauchsäge, Akkuschrauber, Cuttermesser,
Spachtel
2
Arbeitskräfte:
1-2
Vorarbeiten:
Überprüfen Sie, daß alle Meterrisse ordnungsgemäß und gut sichtbar vorhanden sind.
Vor verlegen des Estrichs sollten alle Wände und Vorwände fertig erstellt sein.
(1)
Allgemeine
Trittschalldämmplatten
Hinweise:
verlegen
Zuerst
Prüfen
werden
sie kontinuierlich,
die Trittschalldämmmatten
ob der Estrich ebenmäßig
verlegt.
verlegt wurde.
Prüfen Sie kontinuierlich anhand der Meterrisse, ob die Höhe überall exakt eingehalten wurde.
Achtung! Weder bei den Randdämmstreifen noch bei der Trittschalldämmung sollte es Fehlstellen
geben (Schallübertragung)
Spachtel Wasserwaage Tauchsäge Akkuschrauber Kleber Cuttermesser
Link: http://www.fermacell.de/de/docs/12358_VA_Estrich-Elemente_DE_Web.pdf
Literatur:
Link: http://www.fermacell.de/de/docs/12358_VA_Estrich-Elemente_DE_Web.pdf
Literatur: Fermacell-Estrichelemente, Verarbeitungsanleitung 2011
8.1 Ober-Bodenarbeiten / Trockenestrich
Stand: 12/2012
8.1 Ober-Bodenarbeiten / Trockenestrich
Stand: 12/2012
8.1 Ober-Bodenarbeiten / Trockenestrich
Stand: 12/2012
(1) Trittschalldämmplatten verlegen
Zuerst werden die Trittschalldämmmatten verlegt.
Achtung! Weder bei den Randdämmstreifen noch bei der Trittschalldämmung sollte es Fehlstellen
geben (Schallübertragung)
(2) Fermacell Trockenestrichplatten verlegen und verkleben
Der Trockenestrich besteht aus einzelnen Platten, die mit Nut und Feder versehen sind.
Die Platten werden miteinander dem dazugehörigen Systemkleber verklebt.
Achtung! Beachten Sie auch die Verlegehinweise in Flur- und Türbereichen Des Herstellers.
Link: http://www.fermacell.de/de/docs/12358_VA_Estrich-Elemente_DE_Web.pdf
Literatur: Fermacell-Estrichelemente, Verarbeitungsanleitung 2011
Link: htp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPPbEvtKf0s
Literatur:
8.1 Ober-Bodenarbeiten / Trockenestrich
Stand: 12/2012
(3) Fermacell Trockenestrichplatten verschrauben
Die Elemente innerhalb von 10 Minuten miteinander verschrauben um einen Höhenversatz durch
aufquellen des Klebers zu vermeiden.
Nach Aushärtung den ausgetretenen Kleber mit einem Spachtel oder Stecheisen abstoßen.
Die Platten sind sofort begehbar.
Link:
Literatur:
1
Grundbau und Siedler
Shell and Settler
BeL Architekten, Anne-Julchen
Bernhard & Jörg Leeser
1 — examples from the construction
manual, © BeL Architekten
2 — floor plan – fixed elements in
black, © BeL Architekten
3 — shell (Grundbau) 2013, © BeL
Architekten
4 — status in summer 2013, © BeL
Architekten
138

2
3
4
139

make use of the theory to reorient themselves. Secondly, it is possible
that the proscription of the use of the performance concept
in architecture and urban design in fact shows that performance
theorists are not aware of the latest developments in urban theory.
The question of how the change from the space as given fact to its
production is crucial. The notion of the production of space also
impinges on issues of representation and the current evolution in
mapping techniques and concepts. The raft of case studies (see part
3) has fulfilled its function in the course of the symposium discussion.
So I see the symposium – with all its linguistic crises – as an
inventory, and a step towards broadening the discourse in what till
now has been termed “performative urbanism.” 7 As Dieter Mersch
points out, there is only one performative scene – we cannot help
but deal with the uncertainty of the urban. 8
7 — Wolfrum, Sophie, has introduced
the term "performative urbanism" since
2007.
8 — Dell, Christopher: Das Urbane.
Berlin 2014.
152

Participate in (the) Public: Audio Moves
as Urban Performance (Part II)
Patrick Primavesi
In most of the performances, sound and audio devices played an
important role, for instance in the installation The Quiet Volume by
Ant Hampton (London) and Tim Etchells (Sheffield). Two registered
participants were placed together at a library table, and provided
with instructions via a notebook and earphones. Whispering
voices instructed us to read a few pages in prepared books, and
also drew our attention to all the small noises in the library: the
turning of pages, the breathing and footsteps by other visitors in
the background. This imaginary trip through texts and through the
atmospheres of the reading room (e.g., in Berlin at the new library
center of Humboldt-University) disclosed an intimate approach
to urban life, revealing the library as one of those places that,
according to Michel Foucault’s idea of heterotopias, can integrate
the most diverse times and places. 14 In particular, the experience
of all the little noises and sounds in the atmosphere of a common
quietness was fascinating, and prompts us to reflect on the relation
between sensory perception and the creation of space. Participation
in a heterotopic environment implies a complex interrelation
of various spatial situations. Thus, the library performance made
us aware that we participated not only in the reading experience –
guided by the audio instructions, and their reference to books and
notes on the table – but we were also part of an interaction with our
neighbors, the other participants in the performance installation,
and, most importantly, there was our participation in the surrounding
performance of all “real” users and library staff, all following
certain rules of behavior.
Similar experiences were offered by Lola Arias’ installation in an
Ibis Hotel, drawing the individual participant into the reality of a
hotel maid´s working conditions, or by Gerardo Naumann’s guided
tour through factories presented as a framework of organized
behavior, their routines completely determined by economic principles.
In both cases, we participated in situations that were part
of and framed by a super-structure, a commercial sphere of comfort,
or a working environment with various kinds of machines.
But there was also the intimacy of living rooms in relation to the
14 — Foucault, Michel: “Of Other
Spaces” (1967), transl. by Lieven
De Cauter and Michiel Dehaene, in:
Michiel Dehaene and Lieben De Cauter
(Eds.): Heterotopia and the City:
Public Space in a Postcivil Society.
New York 2008, pp. 13–30.
153

they open up a perspective beyond strategic planning – not only
claiming a particular identity, but also playing with the concept of
national or cultural identity itself. 22
Therefore, in conclusion, the challenge for performative urbanism
is to reflect upon the current transformation of participatory
structures in the public sphere – thinking of urban space not only
as something to be planned and designed, but as a performance,
developed and shaped, appropriated and changed by a living society,
with different speeds, and different relations between present
and past. In the last ten years, audio walks have been developed as
a particular urban practice of connecting to past time experiences
while moving through the city. Instead of representing the past,
as do electronic audio tours with their continuous narratives about
monuments, heroes, and historic events, these audio walks seek
an interpolation of the past in the living present, a disturbance in
our perception, sometimes only a slight change of perspective.
22 — Cf. Baudrillard, Jean: “Kool-
Killer or the Insurrection of Signs,”
in: Baudrillard, Symbolic Exchange
and Death, ed. and transl. by Mike
Gane. London 1993, pp. 76–84.
162

The Performative Power
of Architecture
Alban Janson
What is the most distinctive feature of architecture as genre of
its own? Heinrich Wölfflin has defined architecture as the “art of
bodily masses.” 1 Throughout much of history, the principal task
of architecture was to erect and design solid objects. Only much
later would creating space assume priority, inspired by August
Schmarsow some one hundred years ago, shaping “space” has
come to be considered the fundamental task of architecture. 2 For
some architects, on the other hand, construction forms the focal
point; even Karl Friedrich Schinkel considered architecture to be
“construction elevated through aesthetic sentiment.” 3 Then again,
the organization of social conditions is taken by many to be the
main task of architecture. Yet another view holds that architecture
is characterized by its significance as universal art and science.
This range of ways to determine the essence of architecture reveals
the complexity of the genre. In fact, all of the above are essential
aspects of architecture.
Architecture as a Complex of Spatial Situations
Yet, it is immediately obvious to anybody experiencing real architecture
– e.g., Balthasar Neumann’s staircase in the Bruchsal Palace
– that merely determining the shape of building and space,
construction, and materials would hardly do justice to it. Even
the most penetrating characterization of the historical, political,
or social context, and of the original and current functions would
miss its specifically architectural qualities, if we fail to account
for our experience in concrete terms. An initial approach to the
staircase leads into darkness; at the same time, we are confronted
with an alternative to the cave-like atmosphere below in the form
of ascending to the right or to the left, guided upwards by light,
sweeping outward in an almost dance-like manner between dark
depths and bright natural light, with no indication as yet of where
the staircase ultimately leads. We continue upwards, sweeping back
until we reach an oval platform that seems to be suspended in space,
detached from the walls, deprived of support, and vaulted over by
1 — Wölfflin, Heinrich: Renaissance
und Barock, 4th Edition. Munich
1926, p. 78.
2 — Schmarsow, August: Das Wesen
der architektonischen Schöpfung.
Leipzig 1894.
3 — Peschken, Goerd: Karl Friedrich
Schinkel. Das architektonische Lehrbuch.
Munich 1979, p. 148.
163

they then no longer have any control. The design can focus on
the performative potential of the architecture.
Three examples for the performative potential of the architecture.
1. The High Line in New York is a linear park that provides a
completely new access to the Chelsea city district, which has been
in a process of transformation for a long time.
2. The new municipal hall in Ghent was conceived as an open living
room for civic society by the architects Robbrecht en Daem and
Van Hee, in a lengthy, fifteen-year design process. They adhered to
the design persistently, against all the setbacks, to striking effect.
3. The Dreirosenbrücke (Bridge of Three Roses) in Basel carries a
wide highway connection at its core, but its roof carries a much
narrower urban street, gaining space for very wide sidewalks,
making the pedestrian walkway across the Rhine an incidental
leisure area.
problem
concept
to design
design
to build
work
agent
protagonist
recipient
user
situation
Designing as a performative project
This opens up the question of whether one should also develop
particular design practices that meet these requirements. Can or
should performativity be integrated into the design process from
the outset, in order to take effect in the “perception of the work”
and to promote and support the performative character of urban
spaces in a targeted manner? Is a “good design” enough? Does
this framework in itself ensure architectural spaces that fulfill the
aforementioned criteria, beyond a purely visual architecture or
signature architecture? Or is there also a need to take a different
approach to design?
182

1
2
3
1 — High Line New York, Diller +
Scofidio et al. 2006–14,
photo: © Sophie Wolfrum
2 — Stadthalle Gent, Robbrecht en
Daem/Van Hee 2013,
photo: © Sophie Wolfrum
3 — Dreirosenbrücke Basel, Steib +
Steib 2004, photo: © Markus Lanz
183

Authors
BeL Architekten Sozietät für Architektur is based in Cologne and
was founded in 2000. Anne-Julchen Bernhard studied architecture
in Aachen and at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Since 2008,
she is Professor at the Chair for Design and Theory of Building
Types at the RWTH Aachen. Jörg Leeser studied architecture
in Aachen and at Bartlett School of Architecture, London. Currently
he is professor for Design in Urban Context at Peter Behrens
School of Architecture in Düsseldorf. Since 2003 BeL Architekten
has received numerous awards.
Christopher Dell, doctor of philosophy, lives and works as theoretician,
artist, and musician in Berlin. He has held a position as
visiting teacher for Architecture Theory at the University of Fine
Arts Berlin, visiting professor for Urban Design Theory at Hafen-
City University, Hamburg and the Technical University, Munich.
Teachings a.o. at Architectural Association, London; University
of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; Columbia University, New
York; Academie for Bouwkunst, Arnhem. Dell is author of numerous
articles and books.
Theo Deutinger is an architect and the head and founder of Rotterdam-based
office TD. Deutinger also cofounded STAR, in 2006
with Beatriz Ramo. He was previously employed by De Architekten
Cie. and at OMA. His work has been published in magazines
including Mark, Wired, and Vrij Nederland, and has been exhibited
at Archilab 2008, Work Now Z33, and the Ostrale in Dresden.
Deutinger is engaged as a teacher and lecturer at academies and
universities across Europe.
Erika Fischer-Lichte studied theater studies, Slavic studies, German
philology, philosophy, psychology and educational theory.
Fischer-Lichte has a PhD from FU Berlin. After her professorship
at the Institute for German Literature in Frankfurt am Main, she
became Chair for Comparative Literary Studies at the University
of Bayreuth in 1986. In 1991, she was appointed as Director of the
Institute for Theater Studies in Mainz. In 1996, she was appointed
as Professor of Theater Studies at FU Berlin. Since 2008, she is
Director of the International Research Institute “Interweaving Performance
Cultures” at FU Berlin.
Katharina Forster is principal at the Viennese based office nonconform
– architektur vor ort, which was founded in 1999. The
core theme of the work of nonconform is the on-site ideas-workshop,
where the architects start the typical planning process. Right
from the start they work with all involved in the planning process,
188

simplifying the complex course of projects and developing holistic
strategies for future building with all stakeholders.
Nikolai Frhr. v. Brandis studied architecture at the Bauhaus
Universität Weimar and the Accademia di Architettura Mendriso.
Since 2010, he is research assistant at the Chair for Urban Design
and Regional Planning at the TU München. Here, his research field
comprises spatial theories and their impact upon the conceptualization
of the urban, as well as the impact of contemporary visual
culture on our perception and design of cities.
Alban Janson studied architecture in Darmstadt and Karlsruhe.
He became research associate at the Chair for Architecture Theory
and Design at the TU Dortmund, and later worked as a planner in
Dar es Salaam and as a freelance artist. From 1984–1994, he was
professor for architectural design in Stuttgart. In 1989 he founded
Janson+Wolfrum architecture and urban planning together with
Sophie Wolfrum. In 1994, he was appointed professor at the
Universität Karlsruhe (KIT), in the Faculty of Architecture. He
researches in the field and published various publications concerning
phenomenology of architecture.
Bernd Kniess studied architecture and urbanism in Darmstadt
and Berlin. Since 1995, he worked as an architect and taught at
the RWTH Aachen and at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal.
Currently, he is professor for Urban Design at the HafenCity University,
Hamburg. Together with Michael Koch and Christopher
Dell, he initiated the educational and experimental research project
UdN, University of Neighborhoods. His work takes proactive
interest in the delineation of performative planning culture.
Markus Lanz, is an architect and works as an urbanist and photographer
in Munich and Brasilia. He teaches at the TUM and the
HM in Munich; was visiting professor of Architectural Space and
Photography at TUM and at the UPC in Barcelona. His photography
deals with “lived space,” in order to more precisely perceive
spatial quality and depict and reflect current urbanist phenomena.
Mathew Leung and Giles Smith are part of Assemble, a design &
architecture collective based in London. At the heart of Assemble’s
working practice is a belief in the importance of addressing the
typical disconnection between the public and the process by which
spaces are made. Assemble champions a working practice that is
interdependent and collaborative, seeking to actively involve the
public as both participant and accomplice in the on-going realization
of the work.
189

After he studied urban planning at the Technical University in
Delft, Ton Matton started the Schie 2.0 office for urban and environmental
design in Rotterdam, looking for transformations of
autarkic architectural moments. Schie 2.0 was part of the Dutch
design group of the nineteen- nineties, which worked on an amnesty
for the built reality, and experimentally, emphatically explain the
problems of planning and city design. After his Free Range Office,
a mobile, self sufficient office-shed moving through Rotterdam,
he founded TonMattonOffice in Wendorf, Germany, together with
the writer Ellie Smolenaars, in 2001. Since 2014, he is professor
for space&designstrategies at the University of Art and Design
Linz, Austria.
Dieter Mersch studied mathematics and philosophy. In 1992, he
earned doctoral degree at the TU Darmstadt with his dissertation
in philosophy about semiotics, rationality, and critique of rationality
in the work of Umberto Eco. From 1997 to 2000, he was a
research associate at the TU Darmstadt and habilitated in philosophy
with his work about materiality, presence, and occurrence.
From 2001 to 2004, he was guest professor for philosophy of arts
at the Muthesius-Hochschule für Kunst und Gestaltung, Kiel. In
2004, he was appointed professor at the Chair for Media Science
at the University of Potsdam. Since 2013, he is principal of the
Institute for Theory (ith) at the Zurich University of the Arts.
Max Ott studied architecture 2001–2008 at the TU Munich.
He has worked for Meili Peter Architekten and founded Studio
CNSTNT together with Francesca Fornasier and Sebastian Ballauf
after winning the EUROPAN 11 competition. In 2011, he became
scientific assistant at the Chair of Urban Design and Regional Planning
at TU Munich. His research focuses on the relation between
urban ethics and conceptions of townscape. He is a PhD candidate
at the TUM Graduate Center Architecture.
Patrick Primavesi is Professor of Theater Studies at the University
of Leipzig and director of the Dance Archive Leipzig, where he
initiated a festival and conference on Movement in Urban Space.
He also worked as a dramaturge and established a master’s program
in dramaturgy (with Hans-Thies Lehmann) at the University
of Frankfurt am Main. He wrote his PhD on Walter Benjamin’s
theories of translation and theater, and published widely on contemporary
theater, dance, and performance art, and their interrelations
with film and new media. Present research projects focus on
the politics of representation and performance in urban space, and
the changing conditions of the public sphere.
190

Tim Rieniets is trained as an architect and, since 2013, is director
of the Landesinitiative StadtBauKultur NRW 2020 in Gelsenkirchen.
Prior to this, he worked as a senior lecturer at the Chair
for Architecture and Urban Design (Kees Christianse) at the ETH
Zurich where he was the initiator and leader of the teaching unit
Urban Research Studio. In summer 2012, Tim Rieniets was guest
professor at the TUM. His core ambition is to investigate and
publicize contemporary trends in urbanization and to develop
adequate design strategies. Among others, he has curated the 4th
International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2009 Open City:
Designing Coexistence (with Kees Christianse), and Langstrasse
verlängern! at the Architekturforum Zurich. Recently, he developed,
in collaboration with Goethe-Institut, the Urban Incubator:
Belgrade, a neighborhood development based on cultural projects.
Aslıhan Şenel studied architecture at the Istanbul Technical
University(ITU) and completed a PhD thesis entitled “Unfixing
Place: A Study of Istanbul through Topographical Practices” at
the University College London, where she also taught. She has
contributed to publications – such as The Politics of Making (Routledge,
2007), Urbanistica Tre i Quaderni (December 2013), and
disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory (April 2014) – with her
research on critical mapping, performative theories, and urban and
architectural representation. Exploring the same topics through
making, she has co-organized international student workshops
such as, “Mapping the Commons Istanbul,” “Urban Transcripts:
Claiming Another Story of Rome,” “Urban Transcripts: Food, a
Critical Mapping of Everyday Consumption in London.” Currently,
she is an Assistant Professor at ITU.
Valentina Signore studied architecture at the Università degli Studi
Roma Tre. Since 2008, she has worked as a freelance architect.
She recently finished work on her PhD “The Performative Project”
at the Chair of Prof. Giorgio Piccinato, in which she analyzed the
New York High Line and La Friche la Belle de Mai in Marseille.
Sophie Wolfrum is an urbanist and urban designer. She studied
spatial planning at the University of Dortmund and passed the
state examination in urban design. With Alban Janson, she founded
Janson + Wolfrum Architektur + Stadtplanung, which has received
numerous awards. Since 2003, she has been professor of Urban
Design and Regional Planning at TU Munich. She is a member
of the German Academy for Urban Regional Spatial Planning
(DASL). Her research focus is on architectonic and performative
urbanism. www.stb.ar.tum.de
191