Linking Situational Analysis to Architecture and Urbanism. An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Authors

  • Norbert Kling Technical University of Munich

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-24.2.4084

Keywords:

situational analysis, social worlds/arenas theory, architecture, urbanism, design, spatial analysis

Abstract

Adele CLARKE, Carrie FRIESE and Rachel WASHBURN further expanded situational analysis (SA) with the publication of "Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory After the Interpretive Turn" (2018) and "Situational Analysis in Practice: Mapping Relationalities Across Disciplines" (2022). During the last two decades, SA has been applied to analyze a broad range of research problems across different disciplines. While the mutual relationship between social and material worlds is understood to be at the epistemic base of SA, so far only few studies have been focused on questions that are related to architectural and urban processes through which material worlds are produced, and even fewer on the professional work of designing such worlds and processes. This is paralleled by the lack of theorizing at the intersection of SA, architecture, and urbanism, which constitutes an impediment to interdisciplinary work. In this article, I argue that SA is relevant in architecture and urbanism, while proposing that architectural methods and modes of representation could also be useful for SA. I discuss a series of aspects that could help strengthen the links between SA, architecture, and urbanism, using research exemplars and student work produced in urban design to underpin the argument.

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Author Biography

Norbert Kling, Technical University of Munich

Norbert KLING is a researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Urbanism at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and partner at the practice zectorarchitects with offices in London and Munich. He trained as an architect and urban designer and holds a doctorate from the Department of Architecture at TUM. His research interests include conditions of asymmetric urban change and alternative spatial practices, as well as questions of concept formation, method, and process in the spatial and design disciplines.

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Published

2023-05-30

How to Cite

Kling, N. (2023). Linking Situational Analysis to Architecture and Urbanism. An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-24.2.4084

Issue

Section

Social Worlds, Arenas, and Situational Analyses: Theoretical Debates and Practical Research Experiences