Crisis, Turmoil, and Projections in Architecture

Most recently, the disruptive events of the last twelve years have contributed to the latest post-bubble era, with a dramatic financial collapse compounded by sociopolitical conflicts, and the realization of predictions in climate change. These crises and turmoil upended traditional notions of the typical processes of architectural production and question top-down and bottom-up hierarchies, public and private realms, ownership, and the architectural program. The inquiries in Speculative City outlines changes in the discourse and practice of architecture following crises or turmoil as an opportunity for new potentials, exploring the social, political, and economic contexts and their influences on architecture and urbanism. The projects investigate the current practices of the architecture of crisis as well as the historical significance of the previous post-traumatic yet productive periods from post-World War II, the late 70s and early 80s, and other seminal moments that shaped the modern environment. Examining a selection of scenarios and their geographies, the projects explore architecture in the context of the new economic landscape of post-bubble conditions, excess, neo-liberalism, vacancy, informal architecture, re-use, and resilience, highlighting hidden potentials within the crises to reassemble meaningful collective realms.