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Ruedi Baur and Sébastien Thiérey, Civic City, Head Genève, EnsadLab (eds.)

Don’t Brand My Public Space!

On the Symbolic Poverty of the Representational Systems of Territorial Collectivities

Don’t Brand My Public Space! is a critical investigation of the visual strategies employed to identify and brand political spaces. Isn’t it about time to look at their often banal images as part of a crisis of political representation? In the context of a revival of xenophobic propaganda on the one hand and the degradation of places into pure marketing products on the other, it is possible to recognize an increasingly theatrical, unquestioned production of public signs and symbols. Contributions on the theme by political scientists, designers, and sociologists make reference to the three visual essays that are at the heart of the book: “The Noticeable Absence of a Flag of the Earth” by Ruedi Baur, “Sugar Dictatorship” by Great Nation (Christian Rau und Lukas Weber), and “Marketplace” by Maria Roszkowska. The publication is released in collaboration with Civic City (HEAD Genève) and the research program “Écrire la ville” (Ensadlab, Paris).

Don’t Brand My Public Space! is a critical investigation of the visual strategies employed to identify and brand political spaces. Isn’t it about time to look at their often banal images as part of a crisis of political representation? In the context of a revival of xenophobic propaganda on the one hand and the degradation of places into pure marketing products on the other, it is possible to recognize an increasingly theatrical, unquestioned production of public signs and symbols. Contributions on the theme by political scientists, designers, and sociologists make reference to the three visual essays that are at the heart of the book: “The Noticeable Absence of a Flag of the Earth” by Ruedi Baur, “Sugar Dictatorship” by Great Nation (Christian Rau und Lukas Weber), and “Marketplace” by Maria Roszkowska. The publication is released in collaboration with Civic City (HEAD Genève) and the research program “Écrire la ville” (Ensadlab, Paris).

English edition – also available in French

“A must read for every aspiring and practicing designer.”
– Archcritic

Edited by Ruedi Baur, Sébastien Thiéry, Civic City, Head Genève, EnsadLab, a project in the research series Design2context

With contributions by Ruedi Baur, Great Nation, Jean-Pierre Grunfeld, Luc Gwiazdzinski, Pierre-Damien Huyghe, Annick Lantenois, Maria Roszkowska, Sébastien Thiéry

Design: Ruedi Baur, Maria Roszkowska

16,5 x 24 cm, 6 ½ x 9 ½ in

288 pages, 1669 illustrations

paperback

2013, 978-3-03778-348-1, English
Design Research Design Philosophy
CHF 35.00

Ruedi Baur

Ruedi Baur investigates concrete design issues in social contexts, focusing on the development of a comprehensive design approach. In practice, research and teaching, he focuses on orientation, identification, presentation and comprehensibility of complexity. He has developed internationally recognized projects with Intégral Ruedi Baur, now Integral Designers, 10-Milliards-Humains and Civic city. He is professor at the School of Art and Design, HEAD – Geneva, the ENSAD École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and the University of Strasbourg.

CHF 35.00