Markus Miessen Libri

“East Coast Europe,” which took place during Spring 2008, is a project about the perceptions of contemporary European identity and its relation to spatial practices and international politics. The title “East Coast Europe” is a word play. “Europe” in the title is the central topic for investigation, its contemporary culture, expansion, and its status as a continuing social project. “East Coast” refers to two distinct edges of Europe, both real and imaginary―the geographical East Coast of the United States of America and the political “East Coast” of the European Union. The project invited leading figures in culture and politics from the two east coasts―of the United States of America, and of the countries in the European Union and its vicinity to comment on their perception of Europe today. East Coast Europe dives into the urgent details of a dense network of contemporary experience of the European Union's extensive exchange of knowledge, people, and goods with the East Coast of the United States and also with its own eastern border. What are its challenges and possibilities for social, political and spatial practices? Co-published with Zalozba ZRC, Ljubljana

What exactly is Europe? Is it an actual place or just a temporarycommunity based on shared political and economic interests? Editedby London-based architect and writer Markus Miessen, this compilationof essays, cartoons and other writings presents the world's mostdensely populated continent as a conflicted political space whoseidentity must be continuously negotiated. As the European Unionmaintains its eastward march to countries like Turkey, bleeding beyondits classically understood political boundaries, the questions continue.Produced to expound on Miessen's work from the Lyon Biennial in2007, this dense paperback accumulates diverse opinions exploringwhat it means to live in Europe today.

An investigation of the social, spatial, and material reality of right-wing populism. Para-Platforms investigates the social, spatial, and material reality of right-wing populism. Three case studies—presented in a symposium organized by Markus Miessen at the Gothenburg Design Festival in November 2017—form the core from which this collection of essays has grown: journalist Hannes Grassegger on Trump and Brexit; architectural theorist Stephan Trüby on spaces of right-wing extremism in Germany; and Christina Varvia on Forensic Architecture's investigation of the murder of Halit Yozgat, a young German man of Turkish descent, at the hands of a far-right group in 2006. The presentations are reproduced along with the ensuing conversations with Miessen and the audience members. An essay by anthropologist Mahmoud Keshavarz opens the book by discussing the capacity of design to create the conditions for certain politics. Among the other theoretical, artistic, and historical contributions, editor Zoë Ritts interviews artist Wolfgang Tillmans regarding his pro-EU poster series, the ongoing project truth study centre, and guest-edited volume What Is Different? The volume concludes with a comic by artist Liam Gillick animating a block of granite—culled from the Swedish quarry responsible for extracting the red granite intended for the Third Reich's architectural ambitions—as the messiah of spatial and material politics.

Including an introduction by Eyal Weizman, a conversation with Chantal Mouffe, an interview by Hans Ulrich Obrist, and post-scripts by Bassam El Baroni, Jeremy Beaudry, and Carson Chan. Welcome to Harmonistan! Over the last decade, the term "participation" has become increasingly overused. When everyone has been turned into a participant, the often uncritical, innocent, and romantic use of the term has become frightening. Supported by a repeatedly nostalgic veneer of worthiness, phony solidarity, and political correctness, participation has become the default of politicians withdrawing from responsibility. Similar to the notion of an independent politician dissociated from a specific party, this third part of Miessen's "Participation" trilogy encourages the role of what he calls the "crossbench practitioner," an "uninterested outsider" and "uncalled participator" who is not limited by existing protocols, and who enters the arena with nothing but creative intellect and the will to generate change.

"What are the processes that enable archives to become productive? Conventional archives tend to be defined through the content-specific accumulation of material, which conforms to an existing order or narrative. They rarely transform their structure. In contrast to this model of archival practice and preservation, the conflictual archive has an open framework in which it actively transforms itself, allowing for the creation of new and surprising relationships. Illustrating how spaces of knowledge can be devised, developed, and designed, this archive reveals itself as a space in which documents and testimonies open up a stage for productive dispute and struggle."--Publisher

Using the analogy of the crossbencher the independent politician in the uber-conservative British House of Lords he proposes a reframing of architecture practice as one which operates on the basis of alternative and self-governing political parameters, hoping to open up a fresh debate on ways of acting politically. Preface by Austrian philosopher and political theorist Armen Avanessian, introduction by Swiss journalist and author Hannes Grassegger and Miessen, and postscript by Canadian artist, writer and designer Patricia Reed.

What, today, can be understood as a critical modality of spatial practice? This question, and others, were posed to protagonists from the fields of architecture, art, philosophy, and literature by architectural theorists and curators Nikolaus Hirsch and Markus Miessen in September, 2011. The resulting 64 contributions in this inaugural volume of the Critical Spatial Practice series co presented by the Städelschule, were composed concurrently with the evictions of Occupy movements, sustained turmoil of the Arab Spring, and continued spasms in the global financial system. All point to the question of whether architecture can still be understood as a res publica. Each title in the series will include new work commissioned by invited artists here, the photographer Armin Linke.

Published for the international festival in Zurich in summer 2012, this book features contributions from over 40 artists who showcase their works in public spaces. The festival focuses on the transformation of Zurich's western area from an industrial zone to a trendy residential neighborhood. Artists such as Doug Aitken, Ai Weiwei, and Paul McCarthy explore the evolving nature of urban environments in the 21st century, emphasizing the significance of art interventions in public realms. The publication also includes essays and discussions by a diverse group of contributors, including Max Andrews, Barbara Basting, and Helen Hirsch, who reflect on the intersection of art and urban life. Through these contributions, the book delves into the historical context of art in cities and its impact on community and identity. The collaboration with Stadt Zürich further highlights the city's commitment to integrating art within its urban landscape, making this work a vital resource for understanding contemporary urban culture and artistic expression.

"What was once seen as the defensive preserve of architects - mapping, making, or manipulating spaces- has become a >new culture of space