BOUNDARIES
In this issue the focus is on the role of architecture in relation to peace, understanding the latter as a condition that is constantly negotiated, an ongoing process.
Peace is not compared to its opposite, nor is it referred to as the celebration of memories or events. It is not about considering philosophical or religious meaning, or authoritarianism and its modes of expression, nor to outline possibilities in the future. It is about favouring literature that allows the importance of the concreteness of work to emerge, of solidarity and tolerance, as well as of doubt and of prudence in judgement. Practices, those, that speak about dialogue, which grow out of being together and become, at the same time, the most effective expression of the art of being together; they take shape in the public space, and architecture has a lot to do with it.
«Peace is a bit like a city, it is built piece by piece», comments Renzo Piano in an exclusive conversation published in this issue.
The intricate course of history reminds us that peace is a human invention, a patient, continuous construction. And is precisely the value of construction as a time for sharing of knowledge, of cultures that the projects presented in this issue promote, as those of, Emilio Caravatti, working for years in Africa in the making of the concreteness of construction, a place of encounter and dialogue. Anne Feenstra, who actively promotes a participative process of reconstruction in Afghanistan to whom we extend our best wishes for the 2012 Global Award for Sustainable Architecture sponsored by the Locus Fund , Killian Doherty, Febrik, Archis Interventions and many others.
