Rebuilding Is Not a Metaphor

Rebuilding Is Not a Metaphor brings together diverse experiences and approaches to foster a conversation on how to engage in rebuilding – as architects, planners, professionals in the building industry, politicians, community organizers, activists, and in the end and always – as people. The scope of this book is acts of rebuilding that relates to the built envi­ronment. As implied in the book title, borrowed from Leena Shibeika’s essay, it concerns rebuilding as a practice, not as metaphor. 
The rebuilding practices present­ed span responses to environmental disasters, postindustrial blight and conflict, and are rooted in many differ­ent geographies. They are deeply local yet share themes and generate understandings that are relevant to discuss and exchange across contexts. The practices range from the material, hands-on, tactile and crafty, to practices that give voice, produce new knowl­edge, or are argumentative or theoreti­cal. The contributions are different in their format as well, from statements to visual essays and feature articles.