Architecture After Speculation

The 12th volume in the ongoing pocket-sized Bauhaus Dessau Foundation series, Architecture After Speculation focuses on Spain’s speculative landscapes as another test zone for global urbanization. Spain’s empty apartments, idle infrastructures and massive landscape consumption are yet another manifestation of the worldwide speculative building boom that started in the 1990s. The huge vacancy rate, the absence of users and low levels of demand testify to the dubiousness of a form of architectural production that is based purely on the speculative value of the built objects. Color photographs, interviews with Spanish urban activists, essays, maps and charts, and a variety of case studies make this compact volume a compelling addition to the urban studies library. The International Bauhaus Lab focuses on speculation-driven models of urbanization, and in collaboration with design-based researchers, teachers and activists, develops critical positions, counter-models, and projects that engage with its implications.