All human-made structures are “incomplete,” according to author Michael Mehaffy – that is, they embody abstract information that necessarily leaves out essential aspects of reality. This important concept from mathematics and philosophy has new relevance for today’s human challenges, Mehaffy argues. For “incompleteness” need not be a problem – but we must understand its nature, and be prepared to work toward a “right adjustment of the process of abstraction,” in the words o...

- 12 city walks along modernist gems -

Toerist Modernist is a tribute to Belgium’s lesser-known modernist heritage. It all started with

an online heritage platform. In 2019, Gerlin Heestermans created toeristmodernist.be to share her passion for beautiful modernist houses and buildings and draw attention to their heritage value and vulnerability. Many of them currently do not have official monument status. Since then, spotting these gems, and ringing people’s doorbell to ask if she can ta...

Using the notion of "Realdesign", as a parallel to Realpolitik, the authors aim to highlight political, social and methodological obstacles when designers turn to design thinking, participation and "living labs", with the hope of changing the world for the better.

Michel de Klerk was the great inspirer of the Amsterdam School, the Dutch expressionist movement in architecture. Besides a brilliant architect he was also a versatile artist. 'The Rembrandt among architects' made drawings and paintings and designed furniture and interiors. De Klerk created an innovative language of forms and brought beauty to the working class. This book reveals the versatility of his work through lavish images and quotes from De Klerk himself and his contemporaries.

Transcending the boundaries of traditional portfolios, Morphē by Van Damme•Vandeputte Architects is much

more than a collection of architectural achievements. It is a profound exploration of the architects’ journey and an ode to the power of architecture to instigate change, shape environments, and evoke a symphony of emotions that resonate deep within the human soul.

Morphē, meaning ‘form’ or ‘shape’, encapsulates this transformative essence; this book invites you to explore th...

Margaret Staal-Kropholler (1891–1966) is regarded as the first woman architect in the Netherlands. She completed her first work as an unqualified architect in 1917. Less well known is that Grada Wolffensperger (1887–1965) became the first woman to complete the univer-sity course in architecture at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft that same year. A further twenty women had completed their architectural training by 1945.

Why and how did these women become architects at a time when women w...

Every building project should start with a brief. A good brief clearly explains what the client wants while providing the design team with the information and inspiration they need to create a successful building. Beyond that, the brief functions as a framework for quality management during the project. To this end, experts Juriaan van Meel and Kjersti Bjørkeng Størdal assembled this practical guide for developing high-performance briefs. Using clear language, the book succinctly explains t...

All over Europe, cities struggle with an accumulation of environmental crises like global warming, the depletion of natural recourses, pollution and the extinction of species. If we want to keep our cities liveable, we have to make them circular and climate adaptive.

Making our planning methods, production processes and building economies circular in order to remove the causes of the environmental crises, is a tough assignment. Turning our cities into climate-adaptive environments, ready to c...

'Reuse to Reduce. Architecture within a Carbon Budget. The Case of BioPartner 5'is a plea by Popma ter Steege Architects to embrace the circular transition as a chance for a more meaningful architecture. An architecture that employs the necessary reuse of building materials to rethink our needs, way of building and aesthetics. It is a plea for design shaped by planetary boundaries and the use of a carbon budget as a tool for this. It wants to help shift the discourse on circularity towards de...