“Baukultur,” “Romance of (Day)light,” and “Smart Cities”: When Cities Become Not Only Beautiful, Organized, and Sustainable, but Also Intelligent

Abstract

The German architectural movement that marked the beginning of the 21st century (“Initiative Architektur und Baukultur”), through which the state political power of that federation sought to promote urban quality and city policies by directly engaging the designers themselves (planners, architects, engineers, etc.) with new challenges such as energy efficiency and sustainability—rather than, as might have been expected, acting through the usual administrative channels by issuing planning guidelines for the Länder’s political decision-makers—constitutes a first and decisive step in the reorientation of social space occupation policies, improving their harmony with environmental requirements, and in the approach chosen for implementing these new global strategic objectives.