The Minimal Intervention

The mind’s eye as a design principle The mind’s eye as a design principle Lucius Burckhardt (1925–2003) outlined his theory of the “smallest possible intervention” back in the early 1980s. The idea of minimal intervention runs through his entire oeuvre, from his critique of urbanism to the science of walking. The “smallest possible intervention” denotes a planning theory that assumes two “views” within landscape design: that which is actually visible and that in our mind’s eye. The theory of the minimal intervention means not interfering excessively with the existing landscape, but instead working with the landscape in our minds to develop an aesthetic understanding of the environment. In this book, available for the first time in English, the Swiss sociologist applies this formula to many areas of design. Intellectual distillation of Lucius Burckhardt’s theories available for the first time in English Exploration of the relationships between planning and building Rationalization and needs Intellectual distillation of Lucius Burckhardt’s theories available for the first time in English Exploration of the relationships between planning and building Rationalization and needs Die Sichtweise als Designprinzip Lucius Burckhardt (1925–2003) schrieb seine Theorie Der kleinstmögliche Eingriff bereits Anfang der 1980er-Jahre. Die Idee des minimalen Eingriffs zieht sich durch sein gesamtes Werk, von der Kritik des Urbanismus bis zur Wissenschaft des Gehens. Der „kleinstmögliche Eingriff" steht für eine Planungstheorie, die auf der Ebene der Landschaftsgestaltung davon ausgeht, dass es zwei „Landschaften" gibt: die tatsächlich sichtbare und die in unseren Köpfen. Die Theorie des kleinsten Eingriffs bedeutet, nicht mit gewaltigen Mitteln in die bestehende Landschaft einzugreifen, sondern auf das Landschaftsbild in unseren Köpfen einzuwirken und ein ästhetisches Verständnis der Umwelt zu schaffen. Der Schweizer Soziologe wendet in diesem erstmals auf Englisch erhältlichen Buch die Formel auf viele Gestaltungsbereiche an. Gedankliches Konzentrat von Lucius Burckhardts Theorien erstmals auf Englisch Zusammenhänge der Planung und des Bauwesens Rationalisierung und Bedürfnisse Lucius Burckhardt (1925-2003) outlined his theory of the smallest possible intervention back in the early 1980s. The idea of minimal intervention runs through his entire oeuvre, from his critique of urbanism to the science of walking. The smallest possible intervention denotes a planning theory that assumes two views within landscape design: that which is actually visible and that in our mind?s eye. The theory of the minimal intervention means not interfering excessively with the existing landscape, but instead working with the landscape in our minds to develop an aesthetic understanding of the environment. In this book, available for the first time in English, the Swiss sociologist applies this formula to many areas of design. 00Translated from German Contents 5 Editors’ Preface 6 Introduction 9 The Construction Industry 12 Shortsighted and Farsighted People 20 Planners among Themselves 28 The End Product of Planning: The Plan 37 Building Stock—The Most Important Part of the Nation’s Assets 47 Rationalizing Construction and Dumbing Down the People 54 Remodeling: A No-Go for the Construction Industry 65 What People Supposedly Need 73 Device and Form 80 Design Is Invisible 87 Landscape Gardening, Too, Is Part of the Construction Industry 98 And the Landscape? 107 Can the Townscape Be Preserved? 114 The Minimal Intervention 123 The Minimal Intervention (1982) 131 The Minimal Intervention (1987) 137 Biographies 160 Sources 162 Books by Lucius Burckhardt 163 Index 164 Photo Credits 166