Architecture book about Schlieren receives award in Frankfurt
The book "Stadtwerdung im Zeitraffer" about the photographic long-term observation of Schlieren has received an award. It was honoured at the Frankfurt Book Fair as one of the ten best architecture books of the year 2023.
According to a media release, the book “Stadtwerdung im Zeitraffer” is one of the ten winners of the DAM Architectural Book Award 2023, which is awarded by the Frankfurt Book Fair and the German Museum of Architecture (DAM). The photographic long-term observation of Schlieren from 2005 to 2020 shows how the Swiss midlands are developing, it adds. “Stadtwerdung im Zeitraffer” is edited by Meret Wandeler, Ulrich Görlich and Caspar Schärer and is the conclusion of the study “Fotografische Langzeitbeobachtung Schlieren”.
According to the press release, the highly acclaimed project has spent 15 years photographically investigating how building activity and urban development change the character of a typical Swiss suburban community in the agglomeration belt. The book was designed by the graphic studio Elektrosmog in Zurich. It is published by the Zurich publishing house Scheidegger & Spiess.
In the award citation, the jury stated: “The book explains itself in its structure, explores the given topic in a multi-faceted way and at the same time carefully manages the time of its audience. The 630-page double volume ‘Stadtwerdung im Zeitraffer’ fulfils all these criteria for a good architecture book”. The book illustrates the growth in Schlieren, “where 7,000 people have been added in 15 years, where some corners have been densely built and others have hardly changed at all”.
The jury also praised the choice of a suitable location to explore the phenomenon of urban development. The two parts of the double volume tell of their process with the appropriate means in each case. Essays and texts provide the background to the development and classify it.