Who makes a city, and with what cultures and practices? How do we formulate a “right to the city” without being righteous? Berlin has long been characterized by willfully initiated buildings, self-organized spaces, and an abundant social culture. The right to the city is fought for and shaped by multitudes of people by means of the arts, design, planning, and action.

The bilingual book Glossary of Urban Practice. Towards a Manifesto, edited by Jochen Becker (curator, critic, metroZones/station urbaner kulturen), Anna Schäffler (art historian, CoCooN), Simon Sheikh (art historian, Head of Curating Goldsmiths, University of London) and the nGbK Berlin now provides the basis for work on a manifesto and on the future direction of Urban Praxis.

The aim of this glossary is to sharpen the understanding of “Urban Praxis” through presenting diverse voices of the actors of Urban Praxis and thereby to elaborate its key criteria and qualities. It follows the task of contextualizing the potential of the movement and its artistic, creative, and activist methods, and of situating it within urban discourse: How exactly do these modes of action relate to each other, and what “inherent logics” accompany them? And what can be learned in terms of a self-critical post-disciplinarity from the practices and standards of other fields?

Eds.: Jochen Becker, Anna Schäffler, Simon Sheikh, nGbK Berlin

With contributions by: Aaa, Bremen; Jennifer Aksu, Berlin; Elisa Aseva, Berlin; Markus Bader, Berlin; Jochen Becker, Berlin; Ele Carpenter, Umeå; Niccolò Cuppini, Bologna; Giorgio de Finis, Rom; Matthias Einhoff, Berlin; Jesko Frezer, Berlin/Hamburg; Vera Fritsche, Berlin; Erik Göngrich, Berlin; Jenny Goldberg, Berlin; Elke Krasny, Wien; Sabine Kroner, Berlin; Christoph Laimer, Wien; Jan Lemitz, Duisburg; Annette Maechtel, Berlin; Barbara Meyer, Berlin; Peter Mörtenböck & Helge Mooshammer, Wien/London; Nils Norman, Amsterdam/München; Jelka Plate, Berlin; Susanne Priebs & Christoph Schmidt, Düsseldorf/Berlin; Ivana Rohr, Hannover; Klaus Ronneberger, Frankfurt/M.; Christoph Schäfer, Hamburg; Friederike Schäfer, Berlin/Karlsruhe; Anna Schäffler, Berlin; Helmut Schneider, Düsseldorf; Anton Schünemann, Berlin; Simon Sheikh, Berlin/London; Todosch Schlopsnies, Berlin; Sabine Stövesand, Hamburg; Tirdad Solghadr, Berlin/Bern; Federica Teti, Berlin; Leonie Wendel, Düsseldorf; Kathrin Wildner, Berlin