«Every decision leads [...] to a particular order. For this reason we want to illuminate all possible orders and explain their principles.» - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Inspired by Mies, we have set off in search of order in <trans21>. Even though order is not unambiguous or rationally definable as a term, everyone seems to understand what is meant by it. Order helps us categorize things and file them away for future reference, conveying the illusion that we have everything under control. It is astrategy for coping in a world that is becoming more and more complex and changing faster and faster. But the balance is precarious - order can quickly result in standstill, boredom, and monotony.

What potential does order hold, and what are its risks?

Before we can discuss the concept of order, we have to understand what we are talking about. In Karl R. Kegler's comprehensive etymology, the term extends from ionic columns to homosexuality. The various ways that order can bind and disrupt are wonderfully illustrated in Friederike Gross's caricatures. When order is mentioned, the related concepts of rule, structure, and normality are also strongly activated. But what is normal? Sabine von Fischer challenges familiar conceptions of our surroundings with a subtle artistic intervention. In contrast, Axel Paulus stresses the importance of norms and rules in his article about the SwissSociety of Engineers and Architects (SIA), pointing out that in no way do they limit our creative freedom. Using the example of the newly-built «Apple Campus 2», Sabrina Puddu and Franceso Zuddas go so far as to formulate the hypothesis that an order defined by design can be a liberating instrument.

An individual who has abandoned rules and norms is Michael Häfliger. <trans> visits this hermit in his tipi in the forest. The breach with order does not have to be so extreme: In an interview with Philippe Jorisch, the Dutch architect Wiel Arets explains why he abolished an architecture school, still feels 26 years old, and likes being a stranger no matter where he is.

As children we are scolded if we fail to keep our bedrooms in order. In his travels, James Mollison photographed children's sleeping places and the room around them from a neutral perspective, providing a series of images that show us that not everything is in order in this world of ours. Anyone who walks along the streets of Minsk will at some point be confronted with apparently random rectangles of various sizes and colors on the walls of buildings. Kirill Mazhai solves their riddle in his essay and points out the absurd consequences of an overly strict regime. Closer to home, Lukas Manz and Barbara Thüler examine the developments in Zurich West and reveal the political and economic mechanisms underlying the «Prime Tower» phenomenon. 

Order can also be understood as a modular system: The extracts in «Haller verstehen (Understanding Haller) are the result of 17 students in an architecture criticism class given the task of summarizing a lecture series about the influential Swiss architect Fritz Haller. Tiziana Lauda also uses a modular approach: She reflects on order and intuition in her work as an artist. She arranged a selection of elements from lithographic material into new compositions along the lines of Barthes' maxim «a structuralist takes what is given, dissects it, and puts it together again». Micha Ringger and Pascal Ruckstuhl have

likewise taken this maxim to heart. In their collages, they raise ironic barbed questions about the limits of autonomous architecture.

The feeling of order plays an important role for the architecture student Sebastian Bietenhader. In his essay, he pleads for a greater appreciation of rationally inexplicable sensory experiences. In a similar vein, the artist Leandro Erlich exploits sensory illusions by playfully turning our world order upside down.

Our perceptions of cities as a whole are based on aerial views, figure-ground plans, or

blueprints of ground floors. But what happens when we investigate them in the vertical section? Marie A. Glaser and Flenriette Steiner provide a new perspective on the order of apartments. Michael Hirschbichler uses mapping techniques in a type of imaginary archeology and mounts floor plans of various historical epochs and cultures to form a dystopic 'ideal city’». With the tools offered by photography, Eduardo Kairuz develops a new urban planning strategy that ranges from urban acupuncture to mega-structures. When new world orders are being discussed, it is especially worthwhile to take a look at what we already have. Stephanie Hirschvogel explains why a kibbutz meets our criteria of a radical modern city. Daniela Ortiz provides an academic argument against the rigid attitudes towards modernist views and work.

What says more about people than the environment that they create for themselves? The musician Dabu Fantastic looks back on his childhood and the neighborhood he grew up in - and finds an explanation there for his way of thinking. In «Mehr als Wohnen» (More than Living), Andreas Hofer highlights efforts to break away from traditional ideas in order to reinvent living, humanity's primordial need.

Moritz Mähr challenges architecture to find answers to today's family constellations and Christoph Twickel makes a fiery entreaty against gentrification in his lecture "Recht auf Stadt» (Right to a City) and thus ridicules the new social order.

A stormy see, a flower, an organism under the microscope: The photographs from Gaudenz Signorell invite us to write our own story. In a conversation with Stephan Kunz he explains how his projects develop and how he can discover inspiration far away or as close as in his wastepaper basket. The interview with Michael Hampeand Gion A. Caminada elucidates the triangular relationship of nature - culture - architecture in all of its facets and gets to the bottom of the ideology of <order>.

In a text that reads as smoothly as a good-night story, Bernhard König describes the interconnections between mobility and globalization and what they are doing to our landscape. The sociologist Ueli Mäder explains how places are influenced by relationships and sees signs of hope in actions by youth. Hope is conveyed by the artist Roland Roos as well. He travels throughout the country repairing things that are broken. His small, precise interventions are admired, derided, criticized, praised, and questioned.

We, too, have created order - this issue is comprised of two separate parts, one with images and one with text. Instead of illustrating with images or explaining with text, we have decided to give both parts equal weight, to let them tell their own stories, and thus to encourage new interpretations. This is our attempt to challenge the familiar order.