Berlin was shaped by the events of the twentieth century in a process of "automatic urbanism." More than any other metropolis, the city absorbed the forces of that epoch - modernity, fascism, two world wars, Stalinism, socialism, the Cold War, revolt, capitalism - and gave them form. This book shows how even today, opposed ideological, political, economic, and military forces continue to produce unplanned structures and activities and urban phenomena beyond the categories of urban design and architecture that conceal rich potential. Berlin reveals particularly clearly phenomena that have shaped urban development in the twentieth century in other places as well: conglomeration, collision of borders, destruction, void, mass, metabolism, and simulation. The present book, which caused a sensation when first published in German twenty years ago, is now being published in English for the first time. Its surprising and informative analysis of Berlin as a prototype of the modern city destroys the ideologies of heroic modernity as well as the new nationalisms and shows how the modern city "as found" can become the point of departure for new forms of context-specific architecture and urban planning. Taking Berlin as a prototype, Philipp Oswalt's lucid analysis describes how much the built environment of cities is influenced by the unintended side-effects of political, economic, and technological processes. This "automatic urbanism" reveals modernist master-planning and national building traditions as being a myth. Instead, the book offers a both socially and ecologically more sensitive, more responsible approach to develop cities "as found." Saskia Sassen, Columbia University New York This English edition of Philipp Oswalt's now-classic study could not be more timely. Every effort to understand the modern city must contend with Berlin, the twentieth century's anti-capital. Its lessons, presented here with singular insight and authority, remain necessary to anyone thinking about what that word - "city" - might still mean today. Reinhold Martin, Columbia University New York Berlin has never only been a theatre in the battle between ideas and ideologies. Rather, it has always been the material means by which these ideas clash against each other. If the struggle for our futures must take place in Berlin, as our historical moment seems to demand, there is no better guide than Philipp Oswalt's now classic Berlin: City Without Form. His scholarly ingenuity and perceptive architect's eye are only matched by a commitment to the future of his city. Eyal Weizman, Goldsmiths/University of London

The Bauhaus was distinguished neither by function nor by use but rather by symbolism. Whether square, triangle, or circle; whether Wilhelm Wagenfeld's lamp, Oskar Schlemmer's 'Kopf' (head), or white cubes with flat roofs: the Bauhaus created iconic visual symbols and a style that is neither functional nor social but visually striking. Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, from the outset sought to develop the school into a brand - and he succeeded. More than eight decades after its forced closure, the Bauhaus is more present than ever before in consumerism, politics, and culture alike. It has become a participative brand that escapes centralised control entirely. It has been, and continues to be, forged collectively by countless designers, manufacturers, and consumers. Yet its founders' initial pledge for functionality and social commitment remains unfulfilled. In this book, Philipp Oswalt, former director of Foundation Bauhaus Dessau, explores the development of the Bauhaus brand and its use around the world, illustrated with some 950 images that highlight the vast range of Bauhaus appearances from a century.

In the 1930s, Walter Christaller used new media to work out his central place theory by counting telephone lines to identify centralities that connected multiple spaces: Today, digitization has a formative effect on space—on cities, the countryside, and mobility. Or when it is lacking, disruptions are the result. The contributions to the book offer an introductory examination of the effects of digitization on space and deal with the topicality of Christaller’s central place theory. The book does so both theoretically and practically, by examining spatial policies of current regional development programs, different conceptions of public services, and the tasks medium-sized centers in urban and rural areas. The second part of the book discusses which structural changes are to be expected in the course of digitization, especially through new mobility, and how this might affect the attractiveness of rural areas and the tasks of medium-sized towns. Finally, it examines the causes of populist tendencies and experiences of loss produced by processes of globalization and social division, as well as right-wing extremist developments in rural areas.