b+ is, in a way, an adaptive reuse project. Much has shifted since 2G 81, which documented the work of Brandlhuber+. The pace of practice has accelerated. Architecture is searching for new modes of working and new understandings of ownership. Business models are evolving, and a younger generation is placing more emphasis on ethics — asking how to build, for whom, with which materials, and for which purposes — even questioning whether to build at all. The urgency of the climate crisis and the social consequences of speculative real estate practices, including demolition for new construction, have made adaptive reuse not only a viable option but a common approach among young practitioners.

Now the question is: how can it become the norm? Or, on a systemic level, how can architecture avoid being part of the problem? Therefore, this publication is not organised around individual projects, but around systemic questions that arose from them — questions b+ considers central to the discipline, such as: Who’s Gonna Pay for This? Is That Architecture? What Is the Pace of Architecture? What’s the Right Question? Who Writes the Codes? What Do We Preserve? What If We Have to Build New? A list that is growing project by project.

Ultimately, this issue is not only about showing architecture. It is about questioning architecture’s role and responsibility — and inviting others to take part in that discussion. Because architecture is active: architecting.

2G 94 is a printed monograph, with introductory texts by Aaron Betsky and Antje Stahl. It concludes with the nexus based on the exhibition and documentary film To Build Law produced by the Canadian Centre for Architecture on HouseEurope!. Through a collection of fragments from the past, it shows how HouseEurope! is rooted in both the architectural practice b+ and the research practice s+ (the Chair for Architecture and Storytelling at ETH Zurich). Read less