Candide No. 4 — 07/2011 — Editorial
Letter from the Editors.
Candide No. 4
It is a matter of chance that all five articles in this issue address orders of knowledge, each from a distinct perspective. The authors take the opportunity to critically test the limits of these orders. Michael Guggenheim closely analyzes the literature on the conversion of buildings and finds that the typological categories established in architecture are unable to grasp the dynamic processes of change of use in a meaningful way. Urs Füssler and Jörg Leeser propose expanding the notion of type by the dimension of time. They employ the concept of the dramatype in order to observe and develop the multitude of eclectic buildings that make up the city of Wuppertal. Irénée Scalbert points to the cunning of the bricoleur, whose inventive and wild thinking is stimulated less by typological ideals, but rather by having to make do with limited resources. Liam Ross looks at the influence of Scottish building regulations on the production of window types and discovers unimagined freedoms by closely reading between the lines of the code. Joachim Geil and Reinhard Doubrawa’s parable of the Assyrian Emperor and his architect reminds us that the relationship between building client and building designer is more archaic and enduring than any building type.