Institute of Civic Arts (Bulletin board of architecture and urban design)

The Institute of Civic Arts is conceived as a forum for academic discussion on the architecture of the city. The term ‘civic arts’ will be clearly formulated and the scope of its application will be deliberately limited to the manifest image of the city. The general (relativist) discourse on the term ‘urban’ is not an issue here.

The goal – the dense, mixed and compact city is a comprehensive one. The aim is to approach the essence of the city definitively, from different perspectives, and to explore the spatial, structural, sociological and economic aspects of these observations. The city will be translated from a retrospective image into a future programme – learning from the existing substance! Nevertheless, the historical context will not be considered in isolation, but with regard to the permanence of the city as a radical demand on prospective ‘new’ development.

Today’s city should be created on an equal footing to the historical one.

This Internet portal presents architectural and urban design projects, articles, essays, academic papers, links (to other undertakings with a similar focus) and lists of recommended literature, all reflecting the goals described above. Visitors here are very welcome to make comments (suggestions, criticism, related ideas) as contributions to the discussion!

“The opposite of the city may not be considered to be its equal!”

The city is the spatial forum of society. The architectural and social forms within it are characterised by density and proximity. Concealment and publicity, secrecy and realisation represent an interplay of containment and release, similar and dissimilar, identity and the foreign.

 

The "Institut der Stadtbaukunst" is operated in the net since 2006.

ISSN 2364-3986