Architekturkritiken 1962–2003

With a critical and well-informed perspective and clear, incisive, and even witty language, Funke situates architectural subjects within sociopolitical debates that continue to shape our world today: its origins, its necessity, its flaws, the lack of social housing, the sell-off of urban development sites, daring architectural projects driven by political, social, or commercial motives, and the dire state of German urban planning. In 1962, according to Rudolf Walter Leonhard, then arts editor of Die Zeit, Funke “invented a new genre for German journalism: architectural criticism.” He was perhaps the first popular architectural critic in the still-young Federal Republic. But he was certainly one of the sharpest, as Hermann Henselmann noted as early as 1965:
“I can imagine that many architects are annoyed by your reviews. (…) I’ve spoken with various people who are downright hostile toward you...” Funke’s articles—which, at the time, were still a rarity in that they bore his byline—in Die Zeit (1962–69; 1980–86), Der Spiegel (1970/71), and most recently in Jungle World (2003) are always also accounts of their time. This book is therefore of interest not only to those who, in the current debates on architecture and urban planning, seek insightful observations and fundamental, incisive arguments from a contemporary practitioner that remain relevant today.
It is also a critical history book that recognizes society through its buildings. Show me how you build, and I’ll tell you who you are.

“In his legendary architectural critiques, Hermann Funke offers a highly original and well-founded assessment that is free from the spirit of the times and the discipline’s conventional ways of thinking.” 
— Philipp Oswalt

“Funke’s architectural critiques are more than just reviews of individual buildings or architects—they explore decades of modern urban redevelopment and all the architectural typologies it produced.” 
— Christa Kamleithner