1/2 – 2012

Special Buildings

The buildings presented in this issue simulate “normal architecture”.  It seems that architecture flourishes particularly strongly in the niche of “special buildings”. The task of designing for people with a disability calls for empathy and offers architects an opportunity to reflect about fundamentals, that is about the normal and the obvious. This process of reflection is warmly welcomed by the relevant users and can help to resist some taboos, the imposition of standards and the pressure of costs. In this issue we portray buildings which, we believe, create normality in different ways. The conscious search for normality requires, within this “normality”, a way of being different with its own rules and it creates an understanding of self and provides security. This issue aims at showing that architectural quality can make a contribution here and that, conversely, “barrier-free” building with an integrating effect does not exclude architecture. This issue is intended to contribute to the development of niches for care and for architecture in real life, too.