To think and to build in a large scale remains a source of fascination for architects. As architects have always been influenced by the „suggestion of power“, as Friedrich Nietzsche put it, the question of „Bigness“ has grown more topical since Rem Koolhaas’ essay by the same name. By virtue of their dimension singular objects can be large in scale and be seen to have the potential to fundamentally transform existing urban settings, thus becoming relevant for city branding. However, contemporary European concepts for urban expansion also appear to be large in scale. In a paradigmatic sense archithese presents urban expansion concepts in this issue: IJburg near Amsterdam and Ørestad in Copenhagen.

While IJburg reverts back to the small-scale scheme of the condensed, singlefamily house development—as has been common for ages in the Netherlands and in England—high-density housing construction in Switzerland has tended to re¬discover the housing block in recent years. One can cite several reasons: large and compact volumes accommodate the energy-saving „Minergie“ norms and have an advantage when employing the tool of a master development plan. At the same time, however, one can diagnose an interest by architects of the younger and middle generations in the architecture of the 1960’s. In an era when one navigates between disillusion and pragmatism, even a glance back to the late Modern Movement can become a source of promise. Large-scale housing complexes from the time allow one to at least sense the appearance of a utopian better life. Separate articles document the historical backgrounds of two distinctive housing complexes—Robin Hood Gardens in London and Märkisches Viertel in Berlin—and address current problems of preservation.

In contrast to the large-scale projects, four small Swiss projects are presented in Architektur aktuell.
The editors

02 Editorial

Architektur Aktuell
14 Boa Baumann mit Fritz Hauser: Triobox, Aarau | Hubertus Adam
18 Jan Kinsbergen: Haus für eine Familie, Langenthal | Hannes Mayer
22 Gramazio & Kohler: Einfamilienhaus in Riedikon | Hubertus Adam
26 Blanca Blarer: Der doppelte Blick, Eglisau | Hubertus Adam

Grosser Massstab
36 Grosse Systeme: Zur Frage des Massstabs in Architektur und Städtebau | Robert Kaltenbrunner
42 The Interlace – OMA | Rahel Kesselring
44 Waterfront City – OMA | Rahel Kesselring
46 Aus der Poesie des Alltags ersonnen: Robin Hood Gardens, Alison und Peter Smithson, London | Florian Dreher, Werner Sewing
52 Häuser als Strukturen: Das Märkische Viertel in Berlin | Carsten Krohn
58 Der sechste Finger: Halbzeit in Ørestad, Kopenhagen | Jan Geipel
64 Auf Sand gebaut: IJburg – Amsterdams neueste Stadterweiterung | Patrick Gmür
72 So wachset und gedeihet und werdet Stadt! Wallisellens Wachstumsregion in der Agglomeration: Zürich sucht den Anschluss und verschliesst sich dabei | Verena Doerfler
78 Vision, Utopie, Kalkül: Die Planungsgeschichte von Graz-Reininghaus | Martin Zettel
84 Bigness populär: Comics als Instrumente der Architekturvermittlung | Elena Kossovskaja

Rubriken
88 Interview „Form and Function follow Climate“: Philippe Rahm interviewed by Laurent Stalder
94 Bücher
96 Buchrezension
Feuerspeiende Drachen aus Beton – Chinas aktuelle Urbanisierung
Dieter Hassenpflug: Der urbane Code Chinas
Thomas J. Campanella: The Concrete Dragon.
China’s Urban Revolution | Robert Kaltenbrunner
100 Neues aus der Industrie
110 Lieferbare Hefte
112 Vorschau und Impressum