Troubled! Architecture of Ruinous Landscapes

The landscapes we inhabit are ruinous. Dominant forms of spatial planning that have contributed to the destruction of our environments are in crisis. Building on a critical analysis of ecological simplification as a driving force of capitalist spatial planning deeply rooted in architecture, this book aims to grasp space in its relational complexity to join a more-than-human search for sustainable spatial practices. The authors both question prevailing forms of spatial planning and explore other ways of reading, representing, and constructing space that can help us sustain our shared environments as socio- and biodiverse spaces.

Barbara Herschel, Kaspar Jamme, Felix Künkel, and Justus Schweer (together they form "space for relational research") combine experience in spatial practices such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, academic teaching, collaboration with civil society actors, and public administration. They understand relational research as a way of exploring space as a network of relationships, dynamics, and processes. With the founding of space for relational research, they seek to establish a critical research practice that traces connections in space, challenges the boundaries of architecture, and proposes new fields of work and collaborations.