Beyond ruins: reimagining modernism

Abstract

"Beyond Ruins: Reimagining Modernism explores the potential of modern architecture renovation in the Global South as a catalyst for self-determination and community-building. The volume at hand presents case studies, conversations, and visual essays by international experts in architecture, governance, regenerative design, contemporary art, philosophy, and gaming. These contributions examine recent heritage renovation as a scaffold for local co-authorship of the built environment, and as a way of coming to terms with the region's postcolonial nation-building projects of the mid-twentieth century. The starting point for reflection is the Oscar Niemeyer Guest House renovation at the Rachid Karami International Fair in Tripoli, Lebanon, by the Beirut-based East Architecture Studio--a recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The book addresses contemporary heritage challenges, questions renovation trends, and reveals gaps in historicisation and archiving. It presents architecture as a process of mutual translation - listening to, interacting with, and supporting cultural practices. The volume offers a platform for critique and possibility, while considering preservation as an imaginative futurist practice."--Back cover