Architects frequently don't see the city for the buildings. We are surprisingly focused on the single instance, and not on the whole composition. Yet this is changing, part and parcel with the shift in interest from architects to a broader audience. For, just as more people are engaging with architecture, more architects are engaging with more people, and a broader range of subjects. The 5th International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam, titled 'Making City' was proof positive that the field of architecture can communicate beyond its own borders, and that it might hold relevance outside of formal or aesthetic gestures. Though the central concept of 'Making City' - that this is the primary endeavour of an increasing number of people - is suspiciously broad and certainly unfocused, in the end the IABR was quite successful at engaging the idea of what it actually takes to 'make city'. The vision of the IABR was that architects and planners could help to shift the tactics used to shape cities. This is a 'bottom-up' idea: that coalitions of citizens and designers could lead the reconceptualization of the processes of city making by influencing politicians, global capital players - all to make the expertise of designers instrumental.
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