Hitze Takes Command: Philippe Rahm

Lecture by Philippe Rahm (Philippe Rahm Architectes, Paris) within the IKA Lecture Series 2019/2020 organised and curated by David Gissen and Hannes Stiefel.

“Hitze” [heat] as a property of bodies, spaces and regions has shaped and continues to shape our thinking about architecture and cities. The lecture series, part of IKA’s 2019/2020 special programme Hitze Takes Command, examines the spatial culture of temperature, and its broader social and political implications, through the eyes of a number of contemporary thinkers. The historians, artists, scientists and architects assembled in this lecture series will explore the topic of “Hitze” in dimensions ranging from the soup pot to the troposphere.

Who can think of the future today without consideration of “Hitze”? Every exceptionally warm day is imagined as portending future disaster, while a sudden cold day provides hope that the ravages of climate change might be mitigated. Our experience of “Hitze” is overburdened with dread and yet, “Hitze” is also a form of pleasure – integral to sensations of taste, comfort and sexuality. We hope to discover and understand more about the realm of “Hitze” in explorations of fields that will shape the future of architecture and urbanism.

1 October 2019
Philippe Rahm
Architect, Paris
Philippe Rahm Architectes: Recent Climatic Archtectures