Architecture of Coexistence: Building Pluralism investigates how architecture can shape an open-minded and inclusive society, highlighting three internationally renowned European projects: The White Mosque in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1980); the Islamic Cemetery Altach, Austria (2011); and Superkilen park in Copenhagen, Denmark (2012). Scholarly essays across various disciplines, along with interviews with the architects and users of these projects, provide intriguing insights into architecture’s ability to bridge cultural divides. Soliciting a wide array of questions about migration, transculturalism, visibility, inclusion, and exclusion, the book sheds light on the long-term social processes generated between architectural form and its users.
Architecture of Coexistence offers a truly interdisciplinary perspective on a very timely subject: “Building pluralism” means designing for a respectful inclusion of different cultural needs, practices, and traditions.
With contributions by Azra Akšamija, Mohammad al-Asad, Ali S. Asani, Simon Burtscher-Matis, Amila Buturović, Farrokh Derakhshani, Robert Fabach, Eva Grabherr, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Tina Gudrun Jensen, Jennifer Mack, Nasser Rabbat, Barbara Steiner, Helen Walasek, and Wolfgang Welsch.
Photo essays by Velibor Božović, Cemal Emden, Jesper Lambaek, and Nikolaus Walter.
Description
At this time of growing divides, Architecture of Coexistence seeks to promote pluralism through the lens of contemporary architecture informed and inhabited by Muslims in Europe. The book asks how architecture can shape an open-minded and inclusive society. The book’s central question is examined at an intersection of art, architecture, and cultural preservation, and in conjunction with three internationally celebrated architectural projects that have received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in the past four decades: the White Mosque in Visoko, Bosnia Herzegovina (1983 winner), the Islamic Cemetery Altach in Vorarlberg, Austria (2013 winner), and Superkilen in Copenhagen, Denmark (2017 winner). Architecture of Coexistence offers a unique and multidisciplinary perspective on these award-winning projects. Instead of viewing a completed building as the endpoint, it examines the social impact of architecture within a longer timeframe. How does architecture perform as a social medium that positively impacts its communities? What role do aesthetics play in fostering pluralism and a better understanding between cultures? Aside from interviews with both the projects’ architects and the everyday users, scholarly essays across various fields provide intriguing insights into architecture’s ability to bridge cultural divides.
Soliciting a wide array of questions about migration, transculturalism, visibility, inclusion, and exclusion, the book sheds light on the long-term social processes generated between architectural form and its users.
As we face unprecedented challenges, from the existential threat of climate change and a range of chronic social ills that we can no longer ignore–racism, xenophobia, and social alienationArchitecture of Coexistence offers a truly interdisciplinary perspective on a very timely subject: “Building pluralism” means designing for a respectful inclusion of different cultural needs, practices, and traditions.
