Friedrich von Borries, Matthias Böttger, Florian Heilmeyer
with illustrations by Laleh Torabi
Merve, Berlin, 2008
168 pages, paperback, 17 x 12 cm
ISBN: 978-3-88396-255-9 / German
Wars, catastrophes, climate change – is this really the world we want to live in?
Not the authors, who went in search of strategies and projects for a better future. On a circuitous path full of detours and sometimes even missteps, they came across sign posts from climate researchers, sociologists, architects, engineers, artists and politicians. Equipped with their technical, philosophical and creative Survival Kits, the authors discovered the spaces of the future – cities and battle fields, fallow grounds and construction zones, refugee camps and financial centres. There, they found potential answers to the most fundamental questions: Where will we live? What will we have to give up? What will we fight for? What will we eat? What raw materials will we use? Where will our energy come from? What can we still believe in? How will we live?
Dialogue partners include, amongst others: Omar Akbar (city planner, Director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation), Aaron Betsky (Director of the 11th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia), Daniel Dahm (geographer, author), Adrienne Göhler (psychologist, curator and author), Volker Hauff (economist, social scientist, Chairman of the German Council for Sustainable Development), Manuel Herz (architect, ETH Zurich), Christoph Ingenhoven (architect), Francis Kéré (architect), Claudia Kemfert (economist), Herfried Münkler (political scientist), Philipp Oswalt (architect and curator), Cem Özdemir (social education worker, member of the European Parliament for The Greens), Marcus Peter (cultural scientist), Hans- Joachim Schellnhuber (climate researcher, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)), Peter Sloterdijk (philosopher), Werner Sobek (civil engineer and architect), Karlheinz Steinmüller (futurologist, science fiction author), Mark Terkessidis (journalist, author), John Thackara (designer and journalist), Wolfgang Tiefensee (engineer and computer scientist, Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs).
