Cover of MONU’s current issue #35 on Unfinished Urbanism, ©MONU Burning Hijabs, Cut-off Hair, and Thrown Turbans Interview with Bernd Upmeyer Maryam Mohammadzadeh: Could you briefly introduce yourself and your work with MONU? Bernd Upmeyer: To start with – and in the late 1990s and the early 2000s – I studied architecture in Germany, where […]
Study of Perspective, Tiananmen Square, 1998, Ai Weiwei Conflict-driven Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer When recently we initiated a debate on the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on cities that led to MONU’s issue #33, we had the hope that the crisis would make people and governments cooperate more strongly with each other and thus enable […]
Old social urbanism: Elizabeth Street, Manhattan Photo by Richard Rosen Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Sharon Zukin, an American professor emerita of sociology at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, City University of New York, who often writes about cities, culture, and gentrification. Her new book, The Innovation Complex: Cities, Tech, and the New Economy, […]
Cycle to School, gates ©Izaskun Chinchilla Architects Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Izaskun Chinchilla, who is a Spanish architect who graduated from the Technical University of Madrid, where she has been running her own office ‘Izaskun Chinchilla Architects’ since 2001. Currently, she is Professor of Architectural Practice at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Her work has been […]
Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, 1946 Photo by David E. Scherman New Social Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Although the French existentialist philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre could have easily worked from his home or from one of the hotels in which he lived most of his life, he famously did most of his writing […]
Street facade of Brunnenstraße 9, Berlin Photo ©Erica Overmeer Bernd Upmeyer spoke to bplus.xyz (Arno Brandlhuber and Olaf Grawert) about “Unfinished Urbanism”. Arno Brandlhuber is a German architect and university professor. In 2006, he founded the Berlin-based office Brandlhuber+, which is currently reforming with a new structure in an equal partnership as bplus.xyz. bplus.xyz understands […]
The architects in the Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition at MoMA, New York, 1988. From left to right: Bernard Tschumi, Helmut Swiczinsky, Wolf D. Prix, Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, and curator Mark Wigley. Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Mark Wigley, who is Professor of Architecture and Dean Emeritus at Columbia University. He is a historian, theorist, and […]
La Pensée by Auguste Rodin, ca. 1895 Unfinished Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer “Unfinishedness” is probably most strikingly represented in works of art. Just think of the Non finito-sculptures of Michelangelo made in the Renaissance-period that paid tribute to the theory of Plato that no work of art might ever completely resemble its heavenly counterpart. Michelangelo’s […]
Metropoliz Squat, Rome, 2014 Photo by Hans Pruijt Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Hans Pruijt, who is an assistant professor at the Sociology Department of Erasmus University in Rotterdam. His main topic of interest is empowerment in various contexts, especially working life and urban social movements. In the late 1970s he was involved in the Dutch squatting […]
Black Lives Matter protest outside the U.S. Embassy in London, June 7, 2020 Photo by Katie Crampton Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Mabel O. Wilson, who is the Nancy and George Rupp Professor of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, a Professor in African American and African Diaspora Studies, and the Director of the Institute for Research in […]
A woman marches to the White House at the head of a group of members and allies of the LGBTQ community as part of the Pride and Black Lives Matter movements on June 13, 2020, in Washington. Protest Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer While urban protests featured in both of our last two MONU issues – […]
Eternal Silence, photo by Nadia Shira Cohen, ©Nadia Shira Cohen, published in MONU #33 New Ways of Living and New Routines Interview with Bernd Upmeyer Totally Dublin: MONU (Magazine on Urbanism) was born in 2004 in Rotterdam. Can you tell us about the early days of its existence and how it morphed into being a […]
“Beds were all over the news and became, in my opinion, the face of this pandemic.” (Beatriz Colomina) Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Beatriz Colomina, an internationally renowned architectural historian and theorist who has written extensively on questions of architecture, art, technology, sexuality, and media. She is Founding Director of the interdisciplinary Media and Modernity Program […]
“What I discovered was that neighbourhoods became socially more connected and more short distance social networks were established.” (Richard Sennett) Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Richard Sennett, who currently serves as Senior Advisor to the United Nations on its Program on Climate Change and Cities. He is Senior Fellow at the Center on Capitalism and Society […]
Above left: Brian May’s micro concerts on his Instagram page Above right: Great Orme Kashmiri goats on the streets of Llandudno, Wales Below left: Pizza delivery with toilet paper, Rotterdam, Netherlands Below right: Two men jam out on the guitar and flute on a balcony in Turin, Italy Pandemic Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer When in […]
Redefining a Radical Social Market Economy – Interview with Jörn Walter, p. 4-5 Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Jörn Walter, who is a German city planner. From 1999 to 2017 he was Chief Planning Officer of the city of Hamburg, whose urban planning development he decisively influenced during this time. In the late 1970s he studied spatial […]
“Urban software” at the Solilab & Karting Hangars in Nantes Image credit: Samoa Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Anne Mie Depuydt, who is a Belgian-born architect and urban planner and the director of the Paris-based office uapS that she founded with Erik Van Daele in 1999. Before opening uapS, Depuydt collaborated with Dominique Perrault between 1988 […]
Cover of MONU #23 – Participatory Urbanism (Cover Image: Rhythm 0, performance, from Marina Abramovic’s contribution on page 82. Location: Studio Morra Naples, 1974, Photo: Donatelli Sbarra) They Might Kill You By Bernd Upmeyer While it can be easily agreed upon that design should be created for the people, it remains until now controversial to […]
The new building for the Art Museum and Cultural Quarter in Kristiansand is connected with bridges to the existing concrete silo Eyes Wide Shut”-like Scenes Interview with Bernd Upmeyer Jinyoun Na: What are some architectural projects that inspired you regarding Concrete, Stone and Steel? And why? Bernd Upmeyer: One of the concrete buildings that left […]
Banksy’s artwork on Scott Street bridge in Kingston upon Hull, UK, 2018 Affordable Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer One motivation for our previous issue #31 on “After Life Urbanism” was based on an interest in finding innovative solutions for the creation of affordable housing in spite of the increasing amount of city-space that is covered by […]
‘Dialogue on Death’ videos at the exhibition ‘DeathLAB: Democratizing Death’ Photo by Karla Rothstein Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Karla Rothstein, who is an architect, professor, and creative thinker living, practicing, and teaching in New York City. In both her professional work as design director at LATENT Productions and through over a decade of studios taught at […]
Bob Monkhouse’s television campaign for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation Bernd Upmeyer spoke with James Norris, who is the founder of MyWishes. This is a free service and one of its features allows users to post predesigned content, such as updates, pictures, and comments, at defined intervals or on certain important dates or anniversaries after […]
Scene from the American drama television series “Six Feet Under” that depicts the lives of the Fisher family, who run a funeral home in Los Angeles, 2001-2005, ©HBO After Life Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer After having scrutinized thoroughly how architecture and cities are influenced by societies that grow increasingly older due to declining fertility rates […]
The “Fountain of Youth” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1546 Bernd Upmeyer talked to Deane Simpson, who is an architect, urbanist and educator teaching and researching at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Copenhagen, where he is professor and co-leader with Charles Bessard of the masters program Urbanism and Societal Change. […]
Interior of Frits Van Dongen’s newly founded “young Amsterdam-based office” Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Frits van Dongen about “Late Life Urbanism”. Van Dongen is a Dutch architect, who was the Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands1 from 2011 until 2015. He studied architecture at Delft Technical University in the 1970s. In the 1990s he realized […]
Cover of MONU #1 entitled “Paid Urbanism” Urban Discussions Never Sleep Conversation with Bernd Upmeyer Anthony Morey: What is the history of the publication? Bernd Upmeyer: The history of MONU magazine can be traced back to the year 2003, one year after I graduated as an architect. The magazine was created as a way to […]
Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones performing at the Desert Trip Music Festival in California in 2016, photo by Kevin Mazur, ©Getty Images Late Life Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer When I was studying in the late 1990s and early years of the new millennium, a very common task that was set for us by our […]
Midtown Manhattan, photo from Citymakers book by Alex Fradkin Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Cassim Shepard about “Narrative Urbanism”. Shepard is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP. He produces non-fiction media about cities, buildings, and places. Trained as an urban planner, geographer, and documentary filmmaker, he lectures widely about the craft of visual storytelling in […]
A chair called “Mari” and a stool named “Lyn” Architectural Material Interview with Bernd Upmeyer DAMDI: What is material to an architect (or to you)? Bernd Upmeyer: To me material is usually the final physical manifestation and embodiment of an idea or a concept for a project. In most cases, and especially in architectural competitions, […]
Dinocrates’ proposal for Mount Athos Narrative Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer One important outcome of our last MONU issue #28 on “Client-shaped Urbanism” was the realization that in order to create better cities, we need to improve the communication among everybody involved in the creation of cities, whether they are clients, developers, municipalities, architects, urban designers, […]
Winter garden of the KAAI building, Nieuw Zuid, designed by Atelier Kempe Thill, image is courtesy of Triple Living Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Belgian “client”, real estate developer and former interior designer Stefan Paeleman, who is currently developing the 320,000m², so-called “Nieuw Zuid” site in Antwerp, Belgium. Born in Ghent, Belgium, Paeleman started his career […]
View of the new Estonian Academy of Arts at night with the “public section” cutting from right to left through the building Architectural Elements Interview with Bernd Upmeyer Stairs DAMDI: What is the favourite stair you have designed and why? Bernd Upmeyer: One of my favourite stairs we designed was for the New Building for […]
Interior of the renovated Palais du Tokyo, designed by Lacaton & Vassal Photo by Philippe Ruault Bernd Upmeyer and Beatriz Ramo spoke with Alejandro Zaera-Polo about “Client-shaped Urbanism”. Zaera-Polo is currently Professor of Architecture at the School of Architecture in Princeton University. He worked at OMA in Rotterdam prior to establishing FOA in 1993, an […]
Back facade of the Delftsestraat in Rotterdam, 2009. Photo by Beatriz Ramo ©Beatriz Ramo Beyond Antikraak – The Limits of Urban Property Ownership By Bernd Upmeyer The first image that comes to mind for many when they hear the word “loft” is that of apartments on the upper floor of a building in some desirable […]
President François Mitterrand and I. M. Pei at the inauguration of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris on March 29, 1989, ©Belga Image Client-shaped Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer According to Alejandro Zaera-Polo, in a recent interview on Yale University Radio, you do not need a big budget to produce good architecture, but a good client who […]
The “Balcony” room of the “Elements of Architecture” at the 2014 Venice Biennale of Architecture. Photo by Philippe Ruault Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Stephan Petermann from the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) on the topic of “Small Urbanism”. The main focus of the interview was on OMA’s “Elements of Architecture” project at the 2014 Venice Biennale […]
Aerial view of Chicago, collage by Jonathan Michael Johnson “In Chicago, it is rather difficult to get from the north side to the south side easily. The two sides of the city are heavily segregated along racial and economic lines.” Bernd Upmeyer discussed the issue of “Small Urbanism” with the American philosopher Levi Bryant. This […]
Entrance door of BOARD’s office in Rotterdam, photo by Sonia Arrepia, ©Sonia Arrepia Crossing Boundaries Interview with Bernd Upmeyer Research for Architectural Domain: How diverse is your organization in terms of its members? Bernd Upmeyer: At the moment we are working with a fixed and core staff of 7 to 8 people, who are all […]
Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain photographed by Alfred Stieglitz at the Art Gallery 291 after the 1917 Society of Independent Artists exhibit. Small Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Big is beautiful. Jarrik Ouburg made that quite obvious some years ago in his contribution to our MONU #6 issue on “Beautiful Urbanism”, in which he described the city of […]
Cover of the book Binational Urbanism – On the Road to Paradise Kick-starting Topics Interview with Bernd Upmeyer Could you tell us about your magazine and about your journey in making it? Why is there the need to make such a magazine? Bernd Upmeyer: The MONU-journey began in 2003, about one year after my graduation […]
Keller Easterling’s Wildcards installation at the Gallery of the Yale School of Architecture in 1999 Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Keller Easterling. She is an architect, writer, and professor at Yale University. Her most recent book, Extrastatecraft: The Power of Infrastructure Space, examines global infrastructure networks as a medium of polity. Easterling’s research and writing was […]
Presentation of the book “Binational Urbanism – On the Road to Paradise” with standard ISO sizes at the West Gallery in Den Haag Long Live the Standards! By Bernd Upmeyer I must admit that we actually never use the presentation programme PowerPoint in our office. The only time I have ever used PowerPoint was during […]
Page 66 of DAMDI’s publication “Presentation for Architecture” DAMDI: What makes a successful PPT? Bernd Upmeyer: As I actually never use PowerPoint and have used it only very rarely in the past when I was a student, I will answer your questions in relation to presentations in a more general way. It seems to me […]
San Francisco Bay Area, ©USGS/ESA Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Lars Lerup about “Decentralised Urbanism”. Lerup, a designer and writer, is a Professor of Architecture at the Rice School of Architecture. Previously, he taught for many years at the University of California at Berkeley. His work focuses on the intersection of nature and culture in the […]
The solar system with the world at the centre. Illustration from the star atlas “Harmonia Macrocosmica” by Andreas Cellarius (1660). Decentralised Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer When in 2007, almost ten years ago, we conducted an interview with Floris Alkemade for MONU’s issue #7 on “2ND RATE URBANISM” about a Dutch city called Almere that was […]
1970’s housing in Podgorica in Montenegro, an example of socialist architecture of the city, designed by architects Vukota Tupa Vukotic and Mileta Bojovic Photo by Luka Boskovic Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Bart Lootsma and Dijana Vucinic. Lootsma is a historian, theoretician, critic and curator in the fields of architecture, design and the visual arts. He is […]
Singing Revolution 1987, photo by Aivars Silins Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Gvido Princis. Since 2012 he has been the director of the Office of the Riga City Architect – the Riga City Architect. He joined the Riga City Council in 2000 and his career was initially linked to the City Development Department of the Riga City […]
Panel layout of the competition entry for the project “A Unique Moment” To do, or not to do, … By Bernd Upmeyer When several years ago I was teaching an architectural design course at the University of Kassel in Germany, at the very beginning of the semester I asked my students to present a draft […]
East German guards watch the crowds massing on top of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Photograph: GDR Museum Independent Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Although the idea that the nation-state as the exclusive agent of connections and relations between political communities is increasingly considered obsolete, the world has witnessed the emergence of more than 30 new […]
Mick Jagger performing “Sympathy for the Devil” in 1968 at the show “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” After all It Was You and Me – Interview with Bernd Upmeyer Parasite 2.0: Part of the research we are doing on the Aformal Academy platform is focused on the architect who approaches today’s complexity, looking […]
Hertzberger: “My idea was based on a sort of basic unit, which you can multiply. You might compare this unit with the room and the table shown in Van Gogh’s Potatoes Eaters, where people are having a discussion, eating food together, praying together, with a lamp for focus.” Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Dutch architect Herman […]
Instagram andres_jaque; November 1, 2015; DCTV: andres_jaque Please welcome Dalí Parton (Salvador + Dolly). Great night at @storefrontnyc Critical Halloween! !!!! Thanks @rutgerhuiberts for the great pic!!! With @ivanlopezmunuera #salvadordali #dollyparton; hwaneetoe top-notch costume by @ivanlopezmunuera!; alexmartinezmolinero Jaja estáis geniales @andres_jaque, abrazos! Bernd Upmeyer spoke with Spanish architect Andrés Jaque. His work explores the role […]
Room in New York, 1932 by Edward Hopper Domestic Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Over the last three years we at MONU became increasingly interested in the question of ‘how should we live together?’ – a question that we analyzed, for example, in our issue #18 on “Communal Urbanism”, in which we focused on contemporary communal […]
One Hundred of Two Hundred Reasons to Travel Binational Urbanism On the Road to Paradise By Bernd Upmeyer Introduction Just as bigamists tend to enter into a second marriage before their existing marriage is dissolved, binational urbanists, at some point in time, begin to live in a second city, in a second nation-state, without saying […]
“[…] they may not understand one another’s speech. […] and they ceased building the city.” Genesis 11:4-9 Participatory Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer We need to talk! We at MONU think that the time has come to talk with you about “participation” in architecture and urbanism and re-evaluate and re-examine developments around this topic in recent […]
CUP’s Affordable Housing Toolkit, image ©Damon Rich Bernd Upmeyer interviewed the American designer, urban planner, and visual artist Damon Rich, based in Newark, New Jersey, who is known for investigating the politics of the built environment. His work studies the shaping of the world through laws, finance, and politics. In 1997, Rich founded the Center […]
Assembly of the “Wiki House” in London, ©Margaux Carron Bernd Upmeyer, on behalf of MONU, spoke with the British architect, writer, and educator Jeremy Till. He is the head of Central Saint Martins and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Arts, London. Previously he was Dean of Architecture and the Built Environment at the […]
1.8 Million Potential Binational Urbanists On the Road to Paradise By Bernd Upmeyer Just as bigamists tend to enter into a second marriage before the existing marriage is dissolved, binational urbanists, at some point in time, begin to live in a second city, in a second nation-state, without saying goodbye to their first city. Binational […]
The infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis, Missouri that was built in 1955 only to be demolished in 1976. Screenshot from the film “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth”. Bernd Upmeyer interviewed the Swedish social anthropologist Ulf Hannerz on behalf of MONU. Hannerz is one of the leading theorists of modern cultural anthropology and a pioneer in […]
Aerial view of Ivry Bercy, ©City of Paris Beatriz Ramo and Bernd Upmeyer, on behalf of MONU, spoke with the French sociologist Jean-Louis Missika. He is a member of the Council of Paris and assistant Mayor of Paris in charge of urban planning, architecture, projects of Greater Paris, economic development, and attractiveness. Since 1984 Missika […]
Sailing beyond the Pillars of Hercules, Image by David Potente, ©David Potente Transnational Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Around six years ago, our issue #8 entitled “Border Urbanism” focused on urban phenomena that appear in cities that are located close to nation-state borders. We were fascinated by the fact that when cities are located close to […]
Homogeneous Infiltration for Piano, Joseph Beuys, 1966 Shades of Grey By Bernd Upmeyer One of the most fascinating aspects about colours, whether in graphic design, architecture, or urbanism, may be found in their symbolic power and in what they are able to represent. In terms of symbolism, in my opinion, the most relevant colour of […]
Interior of the Market Hall, ©MVRDV Beatriz Ramo and Bernd Upmeyer, on behalf of MONU, spoke with the Dutch architect, landscape architect, professor, and urbanist Winy Maas. Maas is one of the co-founding directors of the globally operating architecture and urban planning firm MVRDV, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, known for projects such as the Expo […]
Under the auditorium of the Netherlands Dance Theatre, ©Inside Outside Beatriz Ramo and Bernd Upmeyer, on behalf of MONU, spoke with the Dutch designer Petra Blaisse. Blaisse works in a multitude of creative areas, including textile, landscape and exhibition design. In 1991 she founded her own office “Inside Outside” in Amsterdam. Throughout the years, Inside […]
Interior of João Batista Vilanova Artigas’ School of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo, 1969 Interior Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer When a few years ago we at MONU made the huge mistake of travelling in August to Tokyo, the warmest month of the year in this part of the humid subtropical climate-zone, […]
Dexter, ready to kill; Photo credit: ©Showtime From Xhausted to Xcited On the Difficulties of Seemingly Infinite Possibilities and Freedom within Contemporary Cultural Production By Bernd Upmeyer Seemingly infinite possibilities, a multiplicity of choices, and the lack of all-encompassing ideologies in our contemporary society, and particularly in contemporary architecture and urban planning, must not necessarily […]
Paul Fischnaller is sliding down a handrail at the Train Station in Bolzano, 2011 Photo: Paul Fischnaller, ©Paul Fischnaller Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Bart Lootsma on behalf of MONU. Bart Lootsma is a historian, critic, and curator in the fields of architecture, design, and the visual arts, as well as a Professor for Architectural Theory at […]
Locations of strategic spaces and strategic projects in Antwerp, ©Studio Associato Bernardo Secchi Paola Viganò Bernd Upmeyer spoke on behalf of MONU with the Italian, internationally renowned, teacher, practitioner, and theoretician of urban planning Bernardo Secchi. Secchi has taught architecture and urbanism in many universities: Milan, Venice, Geneva, Leuven, Zurich, and Rennes. In Venice, he […]
Image of Flavien Menu´s contribution “From the Kremlin to Dachas” to MONU #19: View from Kaluzhskaya Road in Moscow, Russia Searching for the Hidden Urban Truths – Interview with Bernd Upmeyer MILK X: How did you come up with the name for the magazine? Bernd Upmeyer: At the beginning we had several ideas for the […]
“That makes the sketches generally rather temporary and of an ephemeral nature, as they are usually thrown away directly after they fulfilled their purpose, which is mainly to get a step further in a design, research, or study process.” The Liberation of the Sketch from the Sketchbook – Interview with Bernd Upmeyer DAMDI: What is […]
The Distant Mountain, Superstudio 1972 Geographical Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Could geography, by which we mean the physical geography and in particular the natural geographical features such as landforms, terrain types, or bodies of water that are largely defined by their surface form and location in the landscape, be the last hope of the planet’s […]
The changing harbor areas of Helsinki, 2009, ©City Survey Division Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Rikhard Manninen on behalf of MONU. Manninen is the head of the Strategic Planning Division in the City Planning Department of Helsinki. He is in charge of long-term land-use planning in cooperation with other divisions such as the Traffic Planning Division. The […]
One of Moscow’s ‘Seven Sisters’ Beatriz Ramo and Bernd Upmeyer spoke on behalf of MONU with the French architect and urban designer Antoine Grumbach. Since 2008 Grumbach has been leading one of the teams of the Grand Paris project, an initiative launched by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a new global plan for the […]
Video stills of the opening title sequence of the American television drama “The Sopranos”. ©HBO Greater Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Are cities becoming “greater” these days? When two years ago, in our 14th issue of MONU Magazine entitled “Editing Urbanism”, we claimed that in the Western world, the need for new buildings and city districts […]
Swimming pool in Halen, Photo: Yoshi Kusana, ©Yoshi Kusana, Bern Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Heinz Müller of the Swiss architecture collective “Atelier 5”, where he has been working since 1968 and of which he has been one of the partners since 1986. Atelier 5 was established in 1955 in Bern by five architects: Fritz Erwin, Samuel […]
Map of Berlin showing the 3 locations of the Kommune 1: 1. Friedenau, 2. Charlottenburg, 3. Moabit, ©BOARD Bernd Upmeyer conducted an interview with Rainer Langhans, a pioneer of communal living, who has lived in various forms of community for over fourty years. Langhans is known most of all for his membership of the legendary […]
Mad Men’s Don Draper at the mood board, ©AMC The online magazine Indigits interviewed Bernd Upmeyer about his role as an independent magazine publisher. Indigits: What was the trajectory (catalyst) from magazine-lover to publisher? Bernd Upmeyer: In the 1990s I studied architecture and urban design at the University of Kassel in Germany, a school founded […]
Meal in a Political Commune (1968) ©Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Photo credit: Günter Zint Communal Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer One of the most fascinating things we at MONU recently experienced during a trip to Brasilia had nothing to do with its famous Oscar Niemeyer monuments or the city itself, but with the context surrounding the city. […]
Geopolitical Urban Vector: Istanbul, Ankara Bernd Upmeyer interviewed Saskia Sassen on behalf of MONU. Saskia Sassen is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology and Co-Chair of The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University. Her recent books are Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages, A Sociology of Globalization, and the 4th fully updated […]
Comparism of size and population of The Netherlands with Lagos, ©NLÉ Bernd Upmeyer spoke on behalf of MONU with the Nigerian-born and Amsterdam-based architect and urbanist Kunle Adeyemi. He was born and raised in Kaduna, in the north of Nigeria, and studied and started his early career in Lagos. In 2005, he received a Post-Professional […]
“Nacht 9 II” from Thomas Ruff’s “Nacht Series” that was featured on the cover of MONU #15 The Beijing-based magazine WAI interviewed Bernd Upmeyer on the topic of ideology. The results of the conversation were published in their second issue. WAI: Would it be accurate to still rely on the western perspective of post-ideology even […]
Original image: Photo still from Lewis Milestone’s 1960 “Ocean’s 11” film starring Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop. ©Warner Bros, image by BOARD Next Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Over the past ten years a lot has been researched, analyzed, written and said about cities in the largest developing countries […]
Checking mails at 6 pm, ©STAR strategies + architecture, Original painting: The Angelus, 1857–59 by Jean-François Millet Bernd Upmeyer and Beatriz Ramo spoke on behalf of MONU with Kees Christiaanse. Between 1980 and 1989, Christiaanse worked for the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam, becoming a partner in 1983. In 1989 he founded KCAP Architects […]
I-80/Route 220 signpost in rural Pennsylvania, ©Scott Herring Bernd Upmeyer spoke on behalf of MONU with Scott Herring. Herring is an Associate Professor in the Department of English, an Affiliate with the Department of Gender Studies, and an Adjunct in the Department of American Studies at Indiana University. He is the author of the Lambda […]
The cover of Oldschool’s #3 The Prague-based magazine “Oldschool” interviewed Bernd Upmeyer for their 3. issue. Oldschool is a group project of the three designers Hana Vanátková, Adam Uchytil, and Pavel Brejcha, who are working in the field of visual communication, graphic design and fashion. Oldschool: What does teamwork look like in your studio/publishing house? […]
Bernd Upmeyer’s answers of the interview were screened at the exhibition, ©BOARD The Architectural Association hosted the ARCHIZINES exhibition in London from 5 November to 14 December 2011. The exhibition showcased 60 architectural magazines, fanzines and journals from 20 countries around the world and included video interviews with their creators. The following answers of Bernd […]
Hugh Maaskant’s David Lloyd building in Rotterdam The Milan-based magazine STUDIO interviewed Bernd Upmeyer for their first issue on the topic of Crisis. STUDIO: Officially today we live in an urbanized world. More than 50% of humanity live in urban contexts. Is this the age of urbanity or the age of the crises complexity? Bernd […]
“Jeffrey returns to his home town from College to visit his father in hospital. On his way back from the hospital he happens to find a severed ear in the overgrown fields behind his home.” Blue Velvet (1986), David Lynch. @De Laurentiis Entertainment Group Non-Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Some six years ago and in one […]
Dutch architectural avant-garde of the nineties in Bart Lootsma’s publication “SuperDutch” Any Press is Good Press By Bernd Upmeyer Dedicating an entire issue of a magazine to criticism of a single person – in this case the architect Bjarke Ingels – can be a tricky thing and ultimately spoil its original intention: any press is […]
Editorial of MONU #14 on “Editing Urbanism” The Urban Editor By Bernd Upmeyer In the near future, the interior architect might be best positioned to become the ultimate designer of space, replacing and eradicating professions such as architect and urban designer. But to become such an important figure, the interior architect has to move ahead […]
Cover of “Too Blessed to Be Depressed” by Crimson Architectural Historians Bernd Upmeyer and Beatriz Ramo interviewed Wouter Vanstiphout on behalf of MONU magazine. Wouter Vanstiphout is a member of Crimson Architectural Historians in Rotterdam. He is professor of Design and Politics at the Faculty of Architecture of Delft Technical University. The conversation took place […]
Antje Engelmann’s contribution “Donaukinder” to the group exhibition “Nomadic Settlers – Settled Nomads” E80: On the Road to Binational Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Just as bigamists marry a second time before their existing marriages are dissolved, binational urbanists start life in a second city located in another nation, without having said good-bye to their first […]
“There ought to be a place for people without ambition” (Charles Bukowski) Post-ideological Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer Today we find ourselves in a jealous mood, yet at the same time disillusioned, looking back to the times when revolutionary urban ideologies were not only conceived but actually, unlike today, also truly believed in. Just think about […]
Adolfo Natalini is taking a photograph of a neobrutalist building by Ricci in Florence, 2011, photo by Beatriz Ramo, ©STAR Beatriz Ramo and Bernd Upmeyer spoke on behalf of MONU with Adolfo Natalini. Natalini was one of the founders of the legendary 60ies architecture firm Superstudio, which was one of the major part of the […]
The Anatomy Lesson by Rembrandt (1632) Editing Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer These days, the need for new buildings or entire city quarters is decreasing or even ceasing to exist altogether – at least in the Western world – due to the demographic changes and financially difficult times. Ever since, architects and urban designers, who were […]
Melbourne, Australia was ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the World’s most livable city since 2011 Bernd Upmeyer spoke on behalf of MONU with Ruraigh Purcell. Ruraigh spent three years running an analytical team producing city ranking lists concerned with the issue of ‘quality of life’ at ECA International, one of the leading provider […]
Travel options from Germany to Turkey and back ME(U)TROZONE By Bernd Upmeyer As transitional areas between different parts of a city, metrozones are without doubt closely related to the transit routes that link entire cities with one another. As with the regions along transit routes, we are largely familiar with metrozones from travelling through them […]
Liam Neeson as a turtleneck pullover wearing architect The Portuguese Contemporary Architecture and Art Magazine Arqa interviewed Bernd Upmeyer on the topic of architecture and market. Arqa: Given your interest in radical urban research and your activity as editor of MONU magazine, how would you interpret the situation and the current relations between architecture and […]
“Call for Submissions”- Poster for MONU #13, March 2010 Most Valuable Urbanism By Bernd Upmeyer In sports, a Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is an honour typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests. Initially used in […]
Rotterdam’s inner city shopping street “Lijnbaan”, 1953 Bernd Upmeyer spoke on behalf of MONU with Magriet Smit. Magriet Smit is a real estate developer for a Rotterdam-based company. Bernd Upmeyer: How would you define a good district to invest in in a city? Which are the bad ones? How do you distinguish between them? Magriet […]