Park Books strana 2 z 2

Totems and Other Essays brings together 14 texts by architect, historian, and critic Irénée Scalbert. Written between 1998 and 2025, they reflect nearly three decades of critical engagement with architecture and its cultural contexts. Ranging in length and register-from concise meditations to extended analytical essays-the collection captures the evolution of Scalbert's thinking as a critic, teacher, and participant in architectural discourse. Organised thematically into sections on buildings, cities, lectures, and theory, Totems and Other Essays traces a loosely autobiographical arc. Earlier pieces echo Scalbert's formative years in London during a period of architectural ferment marked by the work of James Stirling, Norman Foster, and Richard Rogers, as well as his close association with a generation of contemporaries including Tony Fretton, Adam Caruso and Peter St John, and Tom Emerson and Stephanie Macdonald (6a architects). Later texts expand outward, both geographically and conceptually, as Scalbert brings a speculative and at times personal lens to questions of urbanism, nature, and meaning in contemporary architecture. The book culminates in Lives of a Critic, a postscript that offers candid thoughts on the vocation of architectural criticism in the 21st century.

Conceived as a compendium and reference for students, teachers, researchers, and practitioners of architecture and urbanism, this book looks into current topics in urban design and development: What is the role of architecture in urban transformation? How can architectural practice respond to challenges such as climate change, migration, social segregation, or technology and mobility? And above all, how to teach urbanism and urban design in a timely way and make it relevant for research? As a written dialogue between participants of the 2023 Lucerne Talks conference, the texts offer a shared understanding of applying different, multidisciplinary approaches, attitudes, and methods in tackling these challenges. Teaching Urbanism is also a call for taking responsibility and position in political, social, and cultural matters and with regard to planning policies. Living spaces and buildings must be designed collectively rather than individually. The essays and brief texts expand the discussions at the 2023 Lucerne Talks on how to achieve this and what architecture can contribute to these complex processes.