Abstract
In the last three decades, urban decision makers in the Western world increasingly promote and build exceptional architecture projects such as iconic museums, spectacular infrastructures or public spaces not only for branding their city image and boosting media attention. Star architecture remains somehow a vague term, and the attention to the exceptional powers of architects still dominates the architectural, planning and public debates. More recently, research and publications can be found that make attempts to mix perspectives from architecture to urban planning to geography, economy and media studies, yet a consistent framework for these debates is missing. This introductory chapter provides a framework, problematising the definition of star architecture and its interplays with the transformation of the urban environment; it explains the reasons why studying the topic in the European context is important and useful for a world audience. This chapter presents the various disciplines involved and the multiple perspectives and methods adopted in each of the respective chapters. The structure of the volume and contents of each chapter are outlined to introduce the readers to this edited book.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahlfeldt GM, Holman N (2015) Distinctively different: a new approach to valuing architectural amenities. SERC Discussion Papers, p 171
Ahlfeldt GM, Maennig W (2010) Substitutability and complementarity of urban amenities: external effects of built heritage in Berlin. Real Estate Econ 38(2):285–323
Ahlfeldt GM, Mastro A (2012) Valuing iconic design: Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in Oak Park, Illinois. Hous Stud 27(8):1079–1099. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2012.728575
Alaily-Mattar N, Dreher J, Thierstein A (2018) Repositioning cities through star architecture: how does it work? J Urban Des 23(2):169–192. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2017.1408401
Bagnasco A, Le Gales P (eds) (2000) Cities in contemporary Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Benevolo L (2007) La città nella storia d’Europa. Rome and Bari, Laterza
Clerici MA (2018a) Culture progettuali in circolazione. La rete del commercio dei servizi di architettura e ingegneria nell’Unione Europea. Bollettino della Società Geografica Italiana
Clerici MA (2018b) Verso un mercato unico dei servizi avanzati. Flussi e reti del commercio dei servizi di architettura e ingegneria nell’Unione Europea. Rivista Geografia Italiana 125(4):549–574
Colomb C, Dühr S, Nadin V (2010) European spatial planning and territorial cooperation. Routledge, London
Dühr S, Stead D, Zonneveld W (2007) The Europeanization of spatial planning through territorial cooperation. Plan Pract Res 22(3):291–307
González S (2011) Bilbao and Barcelona ‘in motion’. How urban regeneration ‘models’ travel and mutate in the global flows of policy tourism. Urban Stud 48(7):1397–1418
Gravari-Barbas M, Renard-Delautre C (2015) Starchitecture(s): figures d’architectes et espace urbain – Starchitecture(s): celebrity architects and urban space. Editions L’Harmattan, Paris
Jencks C (2005) The iconic building: the power of enigma. Frances Lincoln, London
Jones ZM, Ponzini D (2018) Mega-events and the preservation of urban heritage: literature gaps, potential overlaps, and a call for further research. J Plan Lit 33(4):433–450
Kunzmann K (2016) The Europeanization of spatial planning. In: Adams N, Alden J, Harris N (eds) Regional development and spatial planning in an enlarged European Union. Routledge, London, pp 57–78
McNeill D (2009) The global architect: firms, fame and urban form. Routledge, New York
Newman P, Thornley A (2002) Urban planning in Europe: international competition, national systems and planning projects. Routledge, London
Palermo PC, Ponzini D (2015) Place-making and urban development: new challenges for contemporary planning and design. Routledge, London
Phaidon (2017) Destination architecture. The essential guide to 1000 contemporary buildings. Phaidon, London
Ponzini D (2011) Large scale development projects and star architecture in the absence of democratic politics: the case of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Cities 28(3):251–259
Ponzini D, Manfredini F (2017) New methods for studying transnational architecture and urbanism: a primer. Territorio 80/2017:97–110
Ponzini D, Nastasi M (2016) Starchitecture: scenes, actors and spectacles in contemporary cities. Monacelli Press, New York. [original edition 2011]
Ren X (2011) Building globalization: transnational architecture production in urban China. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Roy A, Ong A (eds) (2011) Worlding cities: Asian experiments and the art of being global. Malden, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell (studies in urban and social change). Int J Urban Reg Res 36(6):1353. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2012.01216_2.x
Sklair L (2017) The icon project: architecture, cities, and capitalist globalization. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Weidenfeld A (2010) Iconicity and ‘flagshipness’ of tourist attractions. Ann Tour Res 37(3):851–854
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ponzini, D., Alaily-Mattar, N., Thierstein, A. (2020). Introduction: Star Architecture in and Across Cities in Europe. In: Alaily-Mattar, N., Ponzini, D., Thierstein, A. (eds) About Star Architecture. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23925-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23925-1_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-23924-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-23925-1
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)