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A. Rieger-Jandl:
"Does Architecture Face an Identity Crisis? An Anthropological Approach with a Case Study from Shanghai";
MEMAR. Iranian Bemonthly on Architecture and Urban Design, 79 (2013), 20 - 27.

In a world of rapid economic, political and cultural transformation there is a growing need to explore the notion of `identity´ and `identity formation processes´ within the built environment. This article is based on the assumption that there is an inherent connection between the built form (architecture) and the human perception of the self (identity). The notion of identity is revolving around the question of how complex social structures and groups perceive and define themselves and how these self-images are transformed into built form. The new, widespread search for an `own´ identity is a reaction to recent tendencies in which local developments interact with massive trans-local forces. The result is a growing confusion about the formation of identity spreading steadily below the surface. The built environment is one important medium to make such processes visible through physical `images´.

Shanghai/China is used as a case study for exploring this recent identity crisis within architecture since large-scale urban development projects in the outskirts of this mega-city exemplify the urgent need for architects and planners to immerse themselves deeper into the problem. Marc Augé´s (2008) theory of `super-modernity´ divides spaces into so called anthropological `places´ (lieux) and `non-places´ (non-lieux). This duality is taken as a starting point for the analysis of the urban landscape of Shanghai with its few traditional remains and its excessive new developments. What recent city planning initiatives in Shanghai have in common is a search for the own, the distinctive - the anthropological place, a place with history, connectivity/relations and identification. Caused by the enormous speed of a development which does not leave time for adaption, today history, relations and identity are artificially constructed - here and now, ready-made and ideally with user instructions delivered with them. Identity invented and equipped with an expiration date? New methodologies and guidelines will have to be explored to tackle the future challenges and potentials of identity formation in architecture.

Shanghai, identity, urban change, anthropology, China