Christopher Dell + raumlabor
very honored to be part of the ultimate raumlabor volume Polylemma! This reader published by Jovis, Berlin is a must read for all of those who are interested in reading the city as a sphere of action. “For a quarter of a century, the architectural collective raumlaborberlin has been pioneering new spaces for action, charting unique paths in cooperative urban development, and creating places to foster encounters. Together with experts across various fields, they explore forms of urban practice, participation, and the joint production of space.”
For the book I contributed 50 meta-commentaries and an interview with Benni Foerster-Baldenius und Christof Meyer.
Our history goes back a long way. I met the group for the first time at the arch+ conference Off-Architektur in Nürnberg 2003. Subsequently I had the joy to perform with or in the context of raumlabor in the works Fassadenrepublik (2004), X-Wohnungen (2005), Der Berg (2005), Duismülsen (2007), A 110 Landscape of Desire (2014), Temple of No Shopping (2016), Making Futures School (2019), Plastische Demokratie (2021), Floating University (2022) and Wesen der Abwesenheit (2023). Many more to come!
Polylemma tells the story of this work: its nine members visit the sites of their work, come together with long-standing colleagues and critics, dissect the mechanisms behind their actions, and reflect on the tools and methods of their research-based practice. Topics discussed across numerous projects include strategies for learning together, experimental building, and radical recycling. Polylemma challenges us to open up our notion of space. How do we want to live together in the future? The book is a plea for the city as a sphere of action.
