European cities are changing rapidly in part due to the process of de-industrialization, European integration and economic globalization. Within those cities public spaces are the meeting place of politics and culture, social and individual territories, instrumental and expressive concerns. Public Space and the Challenges of Urban Transformation in Europe investigates how European city authorities understand and deal with their public spaces, how this interacts with market forces, social norms and cultural expectations, whether and how this relates to the needs and experiences of their citizens, exploring new strategies and innovative practices for strengthening public spaces and urban culture. These questions are explored by looking at 13 case studies from across Europe, written by active scholars in the area of public space and organized in three parts: strategies, plans and policies multiple roles of public space and everyday life in the city. This book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in the design and development of public space. The European case studies provide interesting examples and comparisons of how cities deal with their public space and issues of space and society.

European cities are changing rapidly in part due to the process of de-industrialization, European integration and economic globalization. Within those cities public spaces are the meeting place of politics and culture, social and individual territories, instrumental and expressive concerns. Public Space and the Challenges of Urban Transformation in Europe investigates how European city authorities understand and deal with their public spaces, how this interacts with market forces, social norms and cultural expectations, whether and how this relates to the needs and experiences of their citizens, exploring new strategies and innovative practices for strengthening public spaces and urban culture. These questions are explored by looking at 13 case studies from across Europe, written by active scholars in the area of public space and organized in three parts: strategies, plans and policies multiple roles of public space and everyday life in the city. This book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in the design and development of public space. The European case studies provide interesting examples and comparisons of how cities deal with their public space and issues of space and society.

Urban design today is facing a multitude of challenges. Using 12 key terms, this book connects these challenges to projects in this field. It introduces concepts. presents possible solutions, and describes implementation processes. A special focus is put on the interaction of the built environment with living systems - an approach that is slowly gaining acceptance within the urban design community and that is setting aside a primarily building-oriented practice in favour of an increased appreciation of public space. Basics of Urbanism defines and illustrates parameters with a clearly territorial approach to urban design. Space between buildings is treated as an essential structure for environmental and social change within small-scale neighbourhoods and blocks, as well as at the level districts and even entire cities. This approach includes forward-thinking temporal aspects as well as the implementation of existing resources in the creation of new spatial qualities. Text in English and German.

From hand-made brick to high-tech product: building with blocks of fired clay today draws from a heritage of nine millennia and remains innovative, sustainable, and highly appreciated for its manifold applications. Since 2004, Wienerberger, the world's largest manufacturer of bricks and other clay building materials, biannually presents the international Brick Award as a scene for outstanding achievements in brick architecture. The 2020 edition of this master class saw 644 submissions from fifty-five countries that were reviewed by an international jury of experts. This book features the fifty nominees and the six winning designs, which are located in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central America. All projects are presented in texts and richly illustrated with atmospheric images, site and floor plans, views, elevations and sections. Five topical essays by international authors, discussing the winning buildings in a wider context, round out this celebration of contemporary brick architecture.

Public space is an essence of urban life, of a city's living quality. The (re-) transformation of space today used by the dense traffic prevalent in urban areas into truly public space is a highly effective way to increase its quality and quantity in cities of all sizes and larger metropolitan areas. The starting point of any such increase is to ensure a better balance between the various uses of space: more room for pause and the slow traffic of pedestrians and cyclists, less for handling of goods and the faster, passive mobility by car. Traditional planning principles in urban and traffic design will no longer do; new approaches and instruments are required. This new book introduces to the reader these approaches and instruments, affecting the actual design as well as the planning process, as creative strategies rather than as a rigid set of rules. It is about networking, co-production, involving local businesses, co-usage of space, circular metabolism, and an appropriate aesthetic. Using inspiring reference projects as well as their own work, architects and urban designers Stefan Bendiks und Aglaee Degros offer a forward-looking insight into how traffic space can become much needed public space. Text in English and German.