WINNER OF THE DAM ARCHITECTURAL BOOK AWARD 2013
The book The Western Town. A Theory of Aggregation looks at the western town from an architectural point of view.
25 towns in the Wild West are the protagonists in this book, including famous places like El Paso, Rio Bravo, and Lahood – not as clichés, but as constructed reality. Detailed maps offer a previously non-existent overview of spatial contexts and form the basis for an intensive exploration of architecture and urban planning.
The culture of the &lcity without a future&r in the American West between 1860 and 1900 has been maintained in the films out of which it arises.
This architectural analysis does not attempt to nostalgically reactivate the Western town, but uses it instead as a vehicle to critique contemporary phenomena in terms of infrastructure, the link between architecture and city, and the role of urban planning – after the Stranger persuaded the residents of Lago to paint the whole town red, he declared himself ready to protect it from the approaching gunmen.
