Under the title Immersed, OASE 78 addresses space and sound. This issue presents a reflection on the spatial aspects of sound alongside an examination of the transformative and temporal dimensions of space.
Immersed concentrates on one specific side of the spatial experience, namely sound, presenting new theoretical insights as well as relevant case studies. Sound is a spatial event, a material phenomenon and an auditive experience rolled into one. It can be described using the vectors of distance, direction and location. Within architecture, every built space can modify, position, reflect or reverberate the sounds that occur there. Sound embraces and transcends the spaces in which it occurs, opening up a consummate context for the listener: the acoustic source and its surroundings unite into a unique auditory experience.

"In the modern world, urban public space is used more intensively than ever, and is often organized specifically for consumption. For decades, this was seen as a negative development; it was said that these regimented spaces are not ‘open’ spaces where people can spontaneously encounter the ‘other’, or where groups can congregate. They thus fail to meet the definition of the public sphere given by thinkers such as Hannah Arendt and Jurgen Habermas: a place for debate and democracy, for exchanging opinions. This issue of OASE shows that the tide is turning. The negative views of the past few decades should at least be qualified somewhat. Fears and concerns about the disappearance of the public domain seem to be giving way to a more positive and sophisticated point of view. This trend is particularly evident among architects and designers, not in large-scale ‘public’ projects, but in an approach to everyday assignments that strikes a balance between pragmatism and idealism. Such designers aim to create conditions in which the public can claim a space as its own. That requires a certain restraint, but there is no need for self-effacement; creating these conditions is an exciting design challenge." (Publishers text)

What makes a building specific? What is the importance of a clear-cut relationship between architecture and its surroundings? What does the term 'context' mean for architecture in this day and age?
OASE 76 presents reflections on and re-evaluations of this hotly debated concept, which provides the key to architectonic strategies tailored to the specific demands of the assignment and the location even today. OASE 76 takes stock of the original meaning, the historical debate and the various appropriations of 'context', gradually revealing the considerable broadening of the concept's meaning in contemporary design practice.

OASE, Journal for Architecture is celebrating its 25th anniversary. During this time, OASE has evolved into an international professional journal in which a reflective and critical approach to architecture, urban development and landscape architecture is the mainstay. This jubilee is being marked by a special edition of the journal.

OASE #75 is a compilation of the most important essays and background articles published in OASE over the last 25 years in a double-thick English-language edition, making a great many key texts accessible to an international readership for the first time.
This anthology affords an overview of the themes that have dominated architectural discourse in the Netherlands, Belgium and beyond over recent decades. The themes are set in a broader context by introductory texts and reflections that have been specially written for this issue by prominent architecture historians. This publication therefore constitutes an important source of information on developments in academic debate as well as professional practice in the fields of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture.

Invention operates at the centre of artistic identity. As an important and almost intangible element of the architects capacities, it often remains unsaid or unspoken. Invention denotes the moment where the genius of the architect-artist surfaces. Moreover, invention is one of the few terms that bridges the janus-faced identity of the architect who is at once artist and engineer. In both these fields the issue of invention is regarded as crucial.
This issue of OASE investigates specific moments when -designers discover new forms of expression. In Western Europe and in modern times (since the eighteenth century) this idea of invention has been generally understood as break with -traditional forms. Hence, the history of modern architecture describes these moments of invention as leading to a new -formal paradigm or style that is often shared by a school or artistic tendency.

Oase 74 offers a series of studies of 'moments of invention' out of the post 1945 history of architecture. Architectural projects by Hans Scharoun, Norman Foster, Alejandro de la Sota and Fernand Pouillon are discussed. In addition this issue presents a series of interviews with contemporary architects (Gigon & Guyer, Xaveer De Geyter, Neutelings & Riedijk) that place the invention of new typological and tectonic solutions at the heart of their design practice.
Authors include Irenée Scalbert, Tony Fretton, Hugh Campbell, Ellis Woodman, Patrick Healy, Christoph Grafe, Tom Avermaete.

The central theme of Oase 73 is the phenomenon of gentrification, a term attributed to Ruth Glass, who described the process of physical and social transformation of working-class areas in London in the early 1960's. During this process, the middle classes (gentry) took over working-class areas, upgrading the neighbourhoods physically, socially and economically, eventually making them too expensive for their original residents. Various authors contribute to the discussion that gentrification can be considered one of the leading issues of contemporary urban restructuring.

The schools programme has been poorly served by architectural circles in both the Netherlands and Flanders for many years, but the topic of school architecture’s importance is back on the agenda. One of the reasons for this renewed interest can be found in the reformulation of the design task: today’s information society is making new demands on education, schools are increasingly infiltrated by ‘extra-curricular’ functions, and ideological and pedagogical contradistinctions are fading to make way for a view of the school as a ‘learning environment’ focused on the individual.
This issue of OASE considers how architects operate strategically under these new conditions, or how they might do this. Presenting projects by Architecture, Jeroen Geurst, Onix, Wim Cuyvers, Herman Hertzberger, SSA/xx, Ton Venhoeven and others that illustrate an engagement with the issue of the modern school, this issue also provides a platform for architects endeavouring to intervene in architecture policy for schools in a proactive way, with projects such as WiMBY! and SMaR. These modern-day strategies are alternated with a number of contributions that, by means of a close reading of plans and images of school projects from the past, reveal connections (sometimes unexpected) between design, programme, representation and ideology that are relevant to a critical reflection on today’s school architecture.
With contributions by Wilma Kempinga, Jeroen Geurst, Tijl Vanmeirhaeghe, Thierry Lagrange, Maarten Van Den Driessche and others.

This OASE focuses on the definition, character and role of hybrid buildings in the urban fabric (or the urban fabric in the hybrid buildings). It raises questions concerning the incorporation, expression and relation of public and collective domains within a building and the relation of building and city. It investigates the relation between the influential role of hybrid buildings in the city and their size and combination of diverse urban functions. It questions the different meanings that are assigned to hybrid buildings. From an architectural point of view, hybrid buildings are often assigned an iconic value or designated as a landmark. From the point of view of urban design, the hybrid building is often seen as a microcosm of the urban condition, replicating the complexity of urban space. From this point of view, the hybrid building is also perceived as an important element of urban policy, being at once an entity that can be mastered and that adds value to city branding - the combination of signs that defines the city.

"This issue of OASE intends to reconsider the relation between architecture and literature, now that literary references in architectural discourse and practice seem to have slowly moved out of sight. The ambition of this issue is to shed light on the potential, and possibly even the necessity, of a more literary approach. We have chosen not to present a single, favoured approach, but rather to present a series of contemporary positions. This OASE discusses the value of literature for interpreting and designing the environment, both by reflecting on earlier positions and by offering a number of imaginations of future interactions between the disciplines." (The editors)

In recent years, both architectural historiography and architectural design practice have been characterized by significant shifts. These new perspectives and methodologies did not merely bring about internal changes, but also called into question the boundaries and relations between the two disciplines.
This issue of OASE investigates the impact of these changes for both disciplines in a series of dialogues between historians, architects, designers and photographers, exploring themes such as the everyday, the landscape, heritage and visual culture.
With contributions by Monique Eleb, Wim Cuyvers, Zeynep Celik, Dirk Sijmons, Camiel Van Winkel and others.

 

In a world that has gone adrift under the influence of globalisation, the current simplification of arguments within the Dutch debate on immigration is untenable. In this issue of OASE, immigration (decontextualisation) is observed through the architectural and urban notions of place. Rather than concentration on the effects of immigration- as some sort of architectonic form, for example - the journal focuses on the migrational process of place-making. In the manner of an anatomical study, the theme of immigration is approached from different angles, clearly exposing the complexity of the phenomenon. The articles selected for this publication place migrancy-related issues such as urban design and its methodologies within a literary framework.

OASE # 67 may be taken as an attempt to reclaim the debate about the purpose and the possibilities of the architectural profession and of design in the Netherlands and, more generally, in Western Europe at a moment that patterns of collective organisation are challenged under the influence of developments on the market of labour and commodities.
Oase, rather than formulating a defined position,limits itself to asking a series of questions which may open up this debate. How can architects position themselves, individually and collectively, in a society undergoing fundamental cultural change? How can alternatives be formulated to the collective amnesia which mistakes sentimental nostalgia for consciousness of history? How can the populist identity politics that affect architecture like any other aspect of the organisation of everyday life be countered? If we are neither interested in facilitating the ruthless sub urbanisation of this territory, nor in producing images for any kind of media, spiraling out of control, is there a way of making an analysis of what is happening around us productive for our work?

OASE # 66 investigates the expression and use of architecture in science fiction and specifically in cyberpunk (cyberfiction). Science fiction, originally a literary and later a film genre, explores the relation between scientific and technological developments and their possible social-cultural influences and effects. Understanding science fiction as the twentieth-century venue for imaginative extrapolations of possible futures, and cyberpunk as a subcategory of science fiction dealing specifically with the information age, they both seem to offer an interesting arena in which to compare various articulations of the future architectural environment.
With contributions by Lara Schrijver, Pnina Avidar, Gül Kaçmaz Erk, M. Cristine Boyer, Neil Spiller and Sidney Eve Matrix.

Oase is a bi-lingual, independent architectural journal which focuses each issue on a single theme which relates to the contemporary architectural discussion. Published in the Netherlands, designed by Karel Martens and contributed to by many of the leading figures in the architectural world it has in the last several years become one of the leading platforms of architectural debate.
This new issue of Oase is an investigation of design approaches using knowledge of architectural traditions, sometimes including the application of decorative visual information in new ornaments.

Oase is a bi-lingual, independent architectural journal which focuses each issue on a single theme which relates to the contemporary architectural discussion. Published in the Netherlands, designed by Karel Martens and contributed to by many of the leading figures in the architectural world it has in the last several years become one of the leading platforms of architectural debate.

Issue nr. 63 is devoted to the development of the countryside and the long accepted policy to approach it from the perspective of the city. The contributors turn this approach around and view the countryside and it's agrarian culture from within itself; analysing the dictonomy from various angles.

Oase is a bi-lingual, independent architectural journal which focuses each issue on a single theme which relates to the contemporary architectural discussion. Published in the Netherlands, designed by Karel Martens and his Werkplaats Typografie, and contributed to by many of the leading figures in the architectural world it has in the last several years become one of the leading platforms of architectural debate.