Following on from the 2017 House 1 project, a public architectural intervention in Zurich, ALICE's teaching programme and the All About Space series enter the realm of urban and suburban space. The series' latest volume Beyond the Object: The Imagination of Space proposes an alternative idea and cultural history of architecture that is derived from the notion of spatial design rather than that of technical objects and constructions. Thus current topics like urban planning, the correlation of public and private spaces, social and economic development are wrapped up into more general questions: What are our common and scientific understandings of space and spatial correlations and how can they apply to contemporary architectural practice and education? The underlying narrative of Beyond the Object: The Imagination of Space is loosely tied to the exemplary urban context of Zurich. Yet it addresses the topic with decidedly global scope. And like the previous books The Invention of Space and House 1 Catalogue, the new volume combines fact with fiction to broaden the view upon future scenarios.

ALICE (Atelier de la conception de l'espace) is an innovative educational laboratory affiliated to the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne's (EPFL) School of Architecture. Its objective is to provide students with the first essential tools for the trade of architecture. With the new series All About Space, faculty and students aim to share their work with the public. The four books, published annually between 2015 and 2018, combine fact, fiction and speculation with ALICE's approach to work, focusing on the creative understanding of space as a human condition. The initial volume The Invention of Space explores how space is invented in terms of the various cultural practices involved with spatial design. It captures individual experience and investigates common invention and comprehension of space, embracing topics such as the history, metaphysics, or politics of environmental, virtual or simulative space. The book concludes with also exploring the spatial conditions of thought, emotion, fantasy, and imagination.