Foreword

Architecture in Dialogue with an Activated Ground sets out to validate the role of the unreasonable in the design process. Using case study projects, architects Urs Bette gives an insight into the epistemological processes of his creative practice, and unveils the strategies he deploys in order to facilitate the poetic aspects of architecture within a discourse whose evaluation parameters predominantly involve reason.

The publication is part of the book series “DESIGN RESEARCH IN ARCHITECTURE” edited by Murray Fraser and Jonathan Hill, The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.

“Since the Renaissance a number of architect-scholars have created methods of intellectual scrutiny of architectural design that rely upon the interplay of drawings, models, textual analysis, intellectual ideas and cultural insights. Yet there is still no cohesive framework or outlet for design research in architecture. This innovative book series – still the only one of its kind – showcases the very best proponents of architectural design research from around the globe, drawing on a range of exemplar positions between practice and academia.”