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Heidede Becker
City, Building, Planning, and Culture – The Need for Action in Building Culture Policy
Recognition that Germany was lagging behind other European countries in architectural and urban planning strategy prompted institutionalisation of the Federal Initiative for Architecture and Building Culture in 2000. This lent further, nation-wide impetus to the public discussion on architecture, “Städtebau” (urban planning) and urban design, on planning and building. Building culture has had little place in the general educational curriculum. Efforts to integrate the subject in school instruction are accordingly all the more important. If building culture is to increase its reach, active public relations is also indispensable. Public positioning on quality issues sharpens critical faculties. The current controversy on the deficient usability of the new Berlin Academy of the Arts, for example, provides a (negative) lesson in building culture. Attention must be directed not only towards spectacular projects but also to everyday architecture. The focus of building cultural activities is indisputably public space, its improvement and reinterpretation. In general, building culture policy needs to play a more decisive role in defending urban planning interests, identifying critical topics, addressing conflicts, providing early warning of building cultural aberrations, and networking the relevant professions more closely.
Deutsche Zeitschrift für Kommunalwissenschaften, Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik
Print ISSN: 1617-8203
Volume: 45, 01/2006