Werner Sewing (1951–2011)

Theoriepreis: Werner Sewing©Schelling Architekturstiftung

Prize winner

Through his clear designation of architectural and urban developments, the architectural sociologist from Berlin, Werner Sewing, has been providing intrepid as well as analytically rich critique for nearly a decade. The broad geographical extent and the depth of expertise with which Sewing has systematically advanced and penetrated into the heart of the issues at hand is particularly remarkable. He has authored texts about urban phenomena in the United States as well as about the second “Stone Berlin” and the involuntary transformation in the self-conception of the professional trade (included as a summary in Sewing’s book: Bildregie: Architektur zwischen Retrodesign und Eventkultur, Basel 2003).

Sewing’s essays and lectures are characterised by clear statements that are accessible to lay audiences as well. The Erich Schelling Architecture Theory Award, with an endowment of 10,000 euro, particularly recognises Sewing’s independent and exemplary efforts to ensuring that the complex transformations unfolding in architecture and urban planning are accessible to the general public from a socio-critical perspective.