Under the premise that architecture makes life better, architecture is often presented as the solution to social problems, made green when promising sustainable futures, or fetishised as a cultural object for the creation of urban identities. Yet, what is it exactly that links architecture so closely to the pursuit of a good life? How is this link interrelated with crisis and crisis thinking? To what extent do belief systems in architecture influence its capacity to deal with crises? Carolina Crijns not only explores the transformative potential in radically rethinking architecture's central concepts but introduces a method of utopian speculation for practices ambitious of social change. With a preface by Sabine Knierbein.

Carolina Crijns (Dipl.-Ing.) studied architecture at Technische Universität Wien and graduated on the meaning of contemporary architecture in times of multiple crises. She was involved in the International Building Exhibition in Vienna on the topic of New Social Housing. Since 2023 she has been working and researching on urban transformation processes in Berlin.