Jörg Huber Livres

This publication enquires into the role and treatment of the body in the visual culture of contemporary China. What meanings are assigned to the body in artistic practice, what does it represent and what (hi)stories does it refer to? Considerable importance is ascribed to the body as a means of orientation and placement; as an arena and medium of social experience. 19 Chinese artists, theatre practitioners and theorists describe their personal experiences, put their thoughts and views up for discussion and explore how art can shed light on the individual and collective experiences that emerge in the wake of historical change and the anticipation of a newly won freedom.

The Young Cities Team 2 sub-project “Energy Infrastructure systems” focuses on developing energy-efficient buildings and supply systems for new towns in Iran. This document outlines the design and development of energy supply systems for a 35 ha pilot area in Hashtgerd New Town, primarily targeting residential buildings. To achieve energy efficiency, various methods can be employed, including innovative applications of traditional Iranian building technologies and enhancements to these methods. Additionally, leveraging renewable energy sources, particularly the high solar irradiation potential combined with solar thermal technologies for heating and cooling, is emphasized. New building technologies, such as centralized, semi-centralized, and decentralized energy supply systems based on co- and tri-generation technologies and district heating networks, also contribute to energy efficiency. The project began with a climate analysis of Hashtgerd New Town to inform energy demand analysis and assess environmental energy potential. Following this, an energy demand analysis for various residential building types was conducted. The design phase included four efficient energy supply systems, which were evaluated based on primary energy demand, carbon dioxide emissions, and energetic life cycle costs. Ultimately, one system is recommended as the “favorite system” for the pilot area.

Globalization euphoria and enthusiasm for the West are on the decline in contemporary China. Critical voices make themselves heard in artistic and cultural circles, turning towards their personal everyday lives to take stock. Their questions revolve around concrete experiences in the radical upheaval of lifeworlds, the continued significance of traditions after many of them have been thoroughly uprooted, and the paradoxes produced by the predominance of neo-liberalism. The 17 positions assembled in this volume provide a vivid illustration of such a »new thoughtfulness« in a wide variety of aspects ranging from aesthetics and art to theatre and photography.

Artists, designers, and theorists discuss the consequences of design as a self-referential practice, and the aesthetics of life-world in the art context with a special focus on furniture. The publication proposes three approaches to the expanded definition of design today and its relation to the art context: * * Distinction: with texts by Tido von Oppeln, Mateo Kries, Klaus Spechtenhauser, Burkhard Meltzer, and Sven Lütticken * * Participation: with texts by Alexander García Düttmann, Monika Kritzmöller, Jennifer Allen, Judith Welter, and a discussion with Martin Boyce, Frédéric Dedelley, and Max Borka * * Production: interviews with Jurgen Bey, Matthew Smith, Mamiko Otsubo, Martino Gamper, Martin Boyce, Sofia Lagerkvist / Front Design, Andrea Zittel, Jerszy Seymour, Florian Slotawa, David Renggli, and Julia Lohmann * * Published on the occasion of a research collaboration of the Institute of Critical Theory (Zurich University of the Arts) and the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich.