Sector 02 Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin Architekten

 

Overwriting the European City

Our map of central Lisbon does not represent a utopian notion of city, depicting instead the condition of today’s city in a critical analysis. In a way, it depicts a contemporary image of the European core city in general. Over the course of various crises and the accelerated globalization of our economy and society, these cities are undergoing latent changes. In terms of its historical and cultural quality, the physical substance of the city is being reduced to containers that are refilled with globalized content. We read headlines of how vacancies are hollowing out the centres from within, how Airbnb is becoming the newest mode of gentrification, and how Asian buyers of property also get a European passport when purchasing a home. The permanence of the form (Rossi) shifts from the ground plan and the building type to the facade and the simple codes of so-called urbanity. The text of the city is rewritten, and the palimpsest of the urban fabric acquires yet another layer.

 

 

Ron Edelaar, Elli Mosayebi, and Christian Inderbitzin founded their architectural firm in Zurich in 2005. The firm’s broad scope of work encompasses building projects – from design to construction – and urban planning along with exhibitions and publications. Housing represents a main focus of their research, teaching, and practice. Since 2011, major projects have been realized through routine collaboration with Baumberger & Stegmeier Architekten. Elli Mosayebi has been Professor for Design and Housing at TU Darmstadt since 2012. Christian Inderbitzin taught at the ETH in Lausanne (EPFL) in 2015/2016. Ron Edelaar, Elli Mosayebi, and Christian Inderbitzin were enrolled as members of the Federation of Swiss Architects in 2014.