Convivial Ground

We are all improvising. We are all making decisions. And we are all watching each other improvise. Together, we are improvising. Decisions become shared ones. We will have built this city together. 　 Convivial Ground. invites the reader to discover the work of the transdisciplinary European design-build network Constructlab piece by piece. Taking Ivan Illich’s understanding of conviviality as departure point, the essays, conversations, stories, and images in the book reflect on the specificities of collaborative practices as situated experiments, as well as on their possible roles in the creation of convivial societies. Exploring contemporary conditions of togetherness, learning, and working, the book is not a "how-to" guide, but an invitation to cooperatively write new convivial narratives. The situational working methods of the transnational collaborative network Constructlab in book form. Offers reflections on the collective design of cities, institutions, and everyday life in the context of growing scarcity. Aimed at city planners and all those with an interest in the subject. Selected for the shortlist of The Best German Book Design 2024 (Stiftung Buchkunst).