Out of the Wild

Abstract

In the research project OUT OF THE WILD, the chair for Architectural Theory of the University of Innsbruck investigates three Austrian-born Architects and Theoreticians: Otto Neurath (1882–1945), Friedrich Kiesler (1890–1965) and Christopher Alexander (1936). This research has two main goals. The first is to investigate if it is possible to find continuous traditions in the work of these three, which could be traced back to the particular situation in Vienna after WW I. More importantly however is the fact that Neurath, Kiesler and Alexander all three have a particular relationship to anonymous and natural architectural practices and democratic design processes. When it comes to design, all three start from the smallest possible units to develop complex systems, methods and forms of organization. Now that research, design and planning methods that were developed for the first modernity, with its emphasis on classes and large statistic collectives, have reached their limits, it might be helpful to reinvestigate this other modernist tradition. Not in the least because Neurath, Kiesler and Alexander were also important forerunners of the Word Wide Web, software development and parametric design.