Architecture is chock full of rules, and without them, this ambitious variety of human activity would not function. There are also conventions, however, that warrant some critical inquiry: Why do we continue to waste our resources, even though we know better? Why do we wax nostalgic in designs for new construction, rather than save actual, existing historical architecture? Wolfgang Pehnt’s (*1931 in Kassel) essays take aim at architecture from a number of different viewpoints; they are devoted to investigating thematic contexts, contemporary tasks, and historical phenomena, and they can frequently teach us pertinent lessons. The various individual aspects of this book unite to form a picture of past and present-day architecture, as Pehnt sees it — as well as a history of architecture, told in illuminating episodes.
 
Exhibition schedule: Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt, opening September 2011
 
Language: German