Will the health crisis have the merit of putting centre stage the invisible people of our cities? Caregivers, operators behind the scenes of the city… They are not alone in making it work: from data centres through cemeteries to pipelines, there are many hidden infrastructures which keep the city afloat. Increasingly, certain functions are emerging on the surface: productive functions but also health centres for sick or deviant bodies, art reserves, nightclubs, etc. The hidden face of cities in broad daylight? AA has chosen to explore the mechanisms at work in this very contemporary evolution of our urbanities.

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In this issue

NEWS

French photographer Marie Bovo’s inspirations; In the eye of visual artists Elmgreen & Dragset; Reading tips from the Triennale bookstore in Milan; Junya Ishigami’s last follies, recent buildings, exhibitions and more.

REGARDS

ART — ORLAN’s Body of Work an interview with Emmanuelle Borne
CINEMA — Filmed in Edgeland, architectural journey through the cinema of the duo Kervern & Delépine by Christophe Le Gac
DESIGN — The “anti” city, when design excludes by Anastasia de Villepin
LITTÉRATURE — Interview with Victoria Mas, on her book Le Bal des folles by Léa Mosconi

PORTRAIT

Bjarke Ingels, the starchitect reaching for the stars by Andrew Ayers
“With this portrait, we were hoping to address the darker side of Danish prodigy Bjarke Ingels, who some accuse of being an all-too-willing poster boy for unscrupulous big business and dodgy heads of state. But it turned out the ebullient starchitect had far grander things to talk about, namely his plans for the Earth, the Moon and Mars. Nothing is too big for the charismatic founder of BIG!”

DOSSIER

INTRODUCTION — The Hidden Faces of the City by Éric de Thoisy
REVIEW — The Anonymous Silos of Private Data, two books about the subject by Christophe Le Gac
UTOPIA — Death in the City, exploring the future necropolises by Annabelle Iszatt
HERITAGE — Blue Gold under the Sand, Dive in the Nabataean Lands by Amélie Pouzaint
BUILDINGS —

Rogers Stirk Harbour +Partners, Louvre Conservation Center,
Liévin, France, 2019 by Valérie de Saint-Do
Goldsmith Company, Floating Farm, Rotterdam, 2019 by Lucie Jouannard
Maggie’s Centres, United Kindgom, since 1996 by Stephen Zacks
Erik Giudice Architecture, Nantes international market, France, 2019 and Croixmariebourdon,
refrigerated warehouse, Rungis, France, 2019 by Lucie Jouannard 
Pitagoras Group, Caldeiroa Car Park, Guimarães, Portugal, 2019 by Anastasia de Villepin
Studio Anna Heringer, Anandaloy Centre, Rudrapur, Bangladesh, 2019 by Anastasia de Villepin

EXPERTISE — Watch and Control, interview with Theo Deutinger about his book Handbook of Tyranny by Andreas Kofler
SURVEY — The City-behind-the-city, a nocturnal essay by Jean-Philippe Hugron

TRENDS

Façades by Yên Bui

In the News —Ceramics in and out by Porcelanosa
Innovation — Dekton by Cosentino
Projects & Products — AA’s selection