Invent the Future with Elements of the Past

Swiss sociologist and pioneering urban planner Lucius Burckhardt (1925–2003) developed the concept of “strollology,” or the science of the walk. In Burckhardt’s concept, the only way to truly experience the urban environment is to move within it on foot. As an approach to urban planning, the stroll redefines the relationship between the planned urban development and patterns of movement through time and space.
           
Invent the Future with Elements of the Past looks at a fascinating recent artistic interpretation of Burckhardt’s theories: the contribution of twelve contemporary artists to the Swiss Pavilion at the fourteenth International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. Developed in Zurich and curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, the project was realized through a series of strolls throughout the city that offered new narratives about the urban space. The resulting objects and events are reproduced here with more than one hundred illustrations, including many in color; interviews with the participating artists, and contributions by Judith Albert, Muriel Baumgartner with Tom Stäubli, Stefan Burger, Christina Hemauer with Roman Keller, San Keller, Adrian Notz, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Paul Polaris, Christian Ratti, Roland Roos, Tom Stäubli, Navid Tschopp, and !Mediengruppe Bitnik.