![Günter Gassner](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/851?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Günter Gassner
(he/him)
Senior Lecturer in Politics and Design
School of Geography and Planning
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I am an interdisciplinary scholar interested in a critical and creative exploration of design and places. My research is at the intersection of spatial praxis, social theory, and political philosophy. I focus on relationships between politics and aesthetics, antifascism and urbanism, and visual methodologies and historiographies.
In my latest research monograph Ruined Skylines: Aesthetics, Politics and London's Towering Cityscape (Routledge, 2020; paperback 2021) I examine the urban skyline as a space for radical politics. Developing a critique of the construction of more and more speculative towers as well as a critique of the claim that these towers ruin the historic cityscape, I explore ruination as a political appropriation of the commodified and financialised cityscape and make a case for reanimating urban politics as an art of the possible.
In current projects I explore right-wing authoritarian space-times that subordinate difference to a central vision, the violence of urban beauty, and fascist urban imaginaries of a 'post-race city'. In addition, I work on a book project with the preliminary title Antifa Urbanism in which I explore militant antifascism in Germany, UK and US as an illiberal (as opposed to a liberal or an anti-liberal) and liberatory spatial praxis. Part of this project are investigations of queer antifascism in the 1970s and revolutionary antifascism in the 1990s.
I collaborate with the Walter Benjamin Archive at the Academy of Arts Berlin, Poligonal – Office for Urban Communication, and the Museum Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in the Walter Benjamin in Berlin project. Developing an anti-dramatic public reading, polyphonic audio pieces, and inviting artists to develop performative interventions in public spaces, this project locates Benjamin's life and work in Berlin to critically and creatively intervene in current urban debates, the commodification of urban life, and fascist thought patterns. Together with Matthew Cheesman and theatre makers, activists, and scholars in the UK, Germany and Greece, I also set up a project that reactivates antifascist theater by establishing an international antifascist theatre network and developing 'blueprints' for antifascist performances based on archival research.
I am the interdisciplinary research lead in the School of Geography and Planning and a co-founder of CIRAF – Cardiff Interdisciplinary Research on Antifascism and the Far right, which is a research network that spans six schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. I joined the School in 2016 and previously taught at the University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins and in the Sociology Department at the London School of Economics. Before my academic career I practised as an architect and urban designer in Vienna, Barcelona, and London.
Publication
2023
- Gassner, G. 2023. Revolutionärer Antifaschismus als Stadtplan: Gewalträume, Freiräume und Traumräume [Revolutionary antifascism as a city map: Violent spaces, free spaces, and dream spaces]. Sub\urban: Zeitschrift für Kritische Stadtforschung 11(3-4), pp. 199-231. (10.36900/suburban.v11i3/4.862)
- Gassner, G. 2023. Aestheticizing the beautiful city: democratic politics and design review. Urban Geography 44(6), pp. 1098-1116. (10.1080/02723638.2021.1874742)
- Gassner, G. 2023. Avenue of atrocities: modern phantasmagorias and the anti-modern. lo Squaderno 64, pp. 21-28.
- Gassner, G. 2023. The New Urban Aesthetic: Digital Experiences of Urban Change by Mónica Montserrat Degen and Gillian Rose, London, Bloomsbury Visual Arts [Book review]. Planning Perspectives 38(1), pp. 225-227. (10.1080/02665433.2022.2157156)
2022
- Gassner, G. 2022. Antifascism and anti-5G conspiracies.. Mediapolis: A Journal of Cities and Culture 7, article number: 3.
- Gassner, G. 2022. Beauty as violence. Planning Theory and Practice 23(4), pp. 601-633. (10.1080/14649357.2022.2113613)
- Gassner, G. 2022. Spiral movement: writing with fascism and urban violence. Sociological Review 70(4), pp. 786-809. (10.1177/00380261221106526)
- Gassner, G. 2022. Aesthetics of gentrification: seductive spaces and exclusive communities in the neoliberal city: edited by Christoph Lindner and Gerard F. Sandoval [Book Review]. Journal of Urban Design 27(3), pp. 394-396. (10.1080/13574809.2022.2035922)
2021
- Brigstocke, J. and Gassner, G. 2021. Materiality, race and speculative aesthetics. Geohumanities 7(2), pp. 359-369. (10.1080/2373566X.2021.1977163)
- Gassner, G. 2021. Fragments of cityscapes. In: Giannakopoulou, G. and Gilloch, G. eds. The Detective of Modernity: Essays on the Work of David Frisby. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 91-103.
- Gassner, G. 2021. Drawing as an ethico-political practice. Geohumanities 7(2), pp. 441-454. (10.1080/2373566X.2021.1903814)
2020
- Gassner, G. 2020. The new enclosure: the appropriation of public land in neoliberal Britain, Brett Christophers [Book Review]. Planning Perspectives 35(6), pp. 1126-1128. (10.1080/02665433.2020.1839174)
2019
- Gassner, G. 2019. Ruined skylines: aesthetics, politics and London's towering cityscape. Routledge Research in Architecture. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. (10.4324/9781315105895)
- Gassner, G. 2019. Thinking against Heritage: speculative development and emancipatory politics in the City of London. Journal of Urbanism 12(3), pp. 279-295. (10.1080/17549175.2019.1576757)
2018
- Gassner, G. 2018. Democratic cityscapes: Politicising urban form against private profit maximisation. Presented at: American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, New Orleans, US, 10 - 14 April 2018.
- Gassner, G. 2018. Emergency brakes: Failed projects and London's development trajectory. Presented at: Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Annual International Conference, Cardiff, UK, 28 - 31 August 2018.
2017
- Gassner, G. 2017. Radically conservative. [Online]. Cardiff: Cardiff University. Available at: http://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/geographyandplanning/2017/12/13/radically-conservative/
- Gassner, G. 2017. Critical Distance: Walter Benjamin's pathos of nearness and London's building boom. In: Black Box: A Record of The Catastrophe., Vol. 2. PM Press
- Gassner, G. 2017. Wrecking London's skyline? A political critique of how the city is viewed. City 21(6), pp. 754-768.
2016
- Gassner, G. 2016. A religious office tower? Virgin Mary's outspread cloak in the City of London. In: Quash, B., Rosen, A. and Reddaway, C. eds. Visualising a Sacred City: London, Art and Religion. I.B.Tauris, pp. 171-188.
- Gassner, G. 2016. Seeing capitalism in the view. Urban Design 139, pp. 23-25.
2012
- Gassner, G., Kaasa, A. and Robinson, K. 2012. Introduction: the process of Writing Cities 2011. Writing Cities: Working Papers 2, pp. 12-15.
2010
- Tavernor, R. and Gassner, G. 2010. Visual consequences of the plan: managing London's changing skyline. City, Culture and Society 1(2), pp. 99-108. (10.1016/j.ccs.2010.06.001)
- Gassner, G. 2010. Skylines and the 'whole' City: Protected and unprotected views from the South Bank towards the City of London. Writing Cities: Working Papers 1, pp. 142-155.
2009
- Gassner, G. 2009. Elevations, icons and lines: The city abstracted through its skylines. In: Davis, J. et al. eds. Researching the Spatial and Social Life of the City., Vol. 1. citiesLAB London School of Economics and Political Science, pp. 68-86.
Articles
- Gassner, G. 2023. Revolutionärer Antifaschismus als Stadtplan: Gewalträume, Freiräume und Traumräume [Revolutionary antifascism as a city map: Violent spaces, free spaces, and dream spaces]. Sub\urban: Zeitschrift für Kritische Stadtforschung 11(3-4), pp. 199-231. (10.36900/suburban.v11i3/4.862)
- Gassner, G. 2023. Aestheticizing the beautiful city: democratic politics and design review. Urban Geography 44(6), pp. 1098-1116. (10.1080/02723638.2021.1874742)
- Gassner, G. 2023. Avenue of atrocities: modern phantasmagorias and the anti-modern. lo Squaderno 64, pp. 21-28.
- Gassner, G. 2023. The New Urban Aesthetic: Digital Experiences of Urban Change by Mónica Montserrat Degen and Gillian Rose, London, Bloomsbury Visual Arts [Book review]. Planning Perspectives 38(1), pp. 225-227. (10.1080/02665433.2022.2157156)
- Gassner, G. 2022. Antifascism and anti-5G conspiracies.. Mediapolis: A Journal of Cities and Culture 7, article number: 3.
- Gassner, G. 2022. Beauty as violence. Planning Theory and Practice 23(4), pp. 601-633. (10.1080/14649357.2022.2113613)
- Gassner, G. 2022. Spiral movement: writing with fascism and urban violence. Sociological Review 70(4), pp. 786-809. (10.1177/00380261221106526)
- Gassner, G. 2022. Aesthetics of gentrification: seductive spaces and exclusive communities in the neoliberal city: edited by Christoph Lindner and Gerard F. Sandoval [Book Review]. Journal of Urban Design 27(3), pp. 394-396. (10.1080/13574809.2022.2035922)
- Brigstocke, J. and Gassner, G. 2021. Materiality, race and speculative aesthetics. Geohumanities 7(2), pp. 359-369. (10.1080/2373566X.2021.1977163)
- Gassner, G. 2021. Drawing as an ethico-political practice. Geohumanities 7(2), pp. 441-454. (10.1080/2373566X.2021.1903814)
- Gassner, G. 2020. The new enclosure: the appropriation of public land in neoliberal Britain, Brett Christophers [Book Review]. Planning Perspectives 35(6), pp. 1126-1128. (10.1080/02665433.2020.1839174)
- Gassner, G. 2019. Thinking against Heritage: speculative development and emancipatory politics in the City of London. Journal of Urbanism 12(3), pp. 279-295. (10.1080/17549175.2019.1576757)
- Gassner, G. 2017. Wrecking London's skyline? A political critique of how the city is viewed. City 21(6), pp. 754-768.
- Gassner, G. 2016. Seeing capitalism in the view. Urban Design 139, pp. 23-25.
- Gassner, G., Kaasa, A. and Robinson, K. 2012. Introduction: the process of Writing Cities 2011. Writing Cities: Working Papers 2, pp. 12-15.
- Tavernor, R. and Gassner, G. 2010. Visual consequences of the plan: managing London's changing skyline. City, Culture and Society 1(2), pp. 99-108. (10.1016/j.ccs.2010.06.001)
- Gassner, G. 2010. Skylines and the 'whole' City: Protected and unprotected views from the South Bank towards the City of London. Writing Cities: Working Papers 1, pp. 142-155.
Book sections
- Gassner, G. 2021. Fragments of cityscapes. In: Giannakopoulou, G. and Gilloch, G. eds. The Detective of Modernity: Essays on the Work of David Frisby. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 91-103.
- Gassner, G. 2017. Critical Distance: Walter Benjamin's pathos of nearness and London's building boom. In: Black Box: A Record of The Catastrophe., Vol. 2. PM Press
- Gassner, G. 2016. A religious office tower? Virgin Mary's outspread cloak in the City of London. In: Quash, B., Rosen, A. and Reddaway, C. eds. Visualising a Sacred City: London, Art and Religion. I.B.Tauris, pp. 171-188.
- Gassner, G. 2009. Elevations, icons and lines: The city abstracted through its skylines. In: Davis, J. et al. eds. Researching the Spatial and Social Life of the City., Vol. 1. citiesLAB London School of Economics and Political Science, pp. 68-86.
Books
- Gassner, G. 2019. Ruined skylines: aesthetics, politics and London's towering cityscape. Routledge Research in Architecture. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. (10.4324/9781315105895)
Conferences
- Gassner, G. 2018. Democratic cityscapes: Politicising urban form against private profit maximisation. Presented at: American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, New Orleans, US, 10 - 14 April 2018.
- Gassner, G. 2018. Emergency brakes: Failed projects and London's development trajectory. Presented at: Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Annual International Conference, Cardiff, UK, 28 - 31 August 2018.
Websites
- Gassner, G. 2017. Radically conservative. [Online]. Cardiff: Cardiff University. Available at: http://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/geographyandplanning/2017/12/13/radically-conservative/
Research
My research cuts across disciplinary boundaries to investigate relationships between politics and design. My work contributes to three main areas.
Politics and Aesthetics: My work extends debates around the politics of aesthetics and the aesthetic dimension of radical politics. I am particularly interested in democratic aspects of aesthetic processes and forms and have studied the construction of speculative towers in London and, more recently, aesthetics of urban infrastructures. This research has been published in a monograph, Ruined Skylines: Aesthetics, Politics and London’s Towering Cityscape (reviewed in Urban Studies, LSE Review of Books, Cultural Geographies), as well as in several journal articles. I am currently working with colleagues on a project on the Violence of Urban Beauty.
Critical Urban Theory: I am contributing to new developments in critical theory through the lens of contemporary urban conditions. My focus has been on studying work of critical theorists who are associated with the Frankfurt School and Walter Benjamin in particular. I wrote on his ‘monadological approach’, and I examine commodified and financialised baroque cityscapes, relationships between literary montages and democratic cityscapes, and spaces of fragmentation and social alienation. This research has been published in several journal articles and in book chapters (e.g. The Detective of Modernity; Visualising a Sacred City). I am currently starting a new collaborative project on online flanerie.
Fascism, Race, and Materiality: In a time when the extreme right is on the rise, the far-right is becoming increasingly mainstream, and autocratic leaders appear unstoppable in many ‘democratic’ countries, this work explores right-wing spaces and authoritarian space-times that subordinate difference to a central vision. Taking Benjamin’s account of fascism as the ‘aestheticisation of politics’ and Deleuze and Guattari’s work on the art of living counter to all forms of fascism as starting points, I am particularly interested in exploring fascist imaginaries of a post-race city versus antifascism as an illiberal spatial practice and different types of (actual and virtual) urban spaces antifascists co-produce.
Teaching
My teaching addresses political, social, economic and cultural dimensions of design. It is both practice-informed and research-led with the aim to open a space for experimentation and political positioning. I currently teach on modules across Human Geography programmes and Urban Planning programmes including 'Border Spaces', 'Cities' and I lead the module 'Politics of Design'.
Biography
Previous academic positions:
- 2021 - present: Senior Lecturer in Politics and Design, Cardiff University, School of Geography and Planning.
- 2016 - 2021: Lecturer in Urban Design, Cardiff University, School of Geography and Planning.
- 2015 - 2016: Course Tutor in Sociology and City Design, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Sociology.
- 2008 - 2016: Associate Lecturer, University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins, Spatial Practices Programme.
- 2011 - 2014: Guest Lecturer, London School of Economics and Political Science, Cities Programme.
Education:
- 2013: PhD (Sociology) London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.
- 2005: Master in Architecture, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria.
Non-academic appointments:
- 2014 - 2015: Urban Researcher, LSE Cities, London, UK.
- 2008 - 2009: Urban Researcher, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), London, UK.
- 2005 - 2007: Project Architect, Foreign Office Architects (FOA), London, UK.
- 2004 - 2005: Architect, F451 Arquitectura, Barcelona, Spain.
- 2002 - 2004: Architect, Frötscher Lichtenwagner Architekten, Vienna, Austria.
Supervisions
I welcome expressions of interest for PhD supervision across the broad remit of my research specialisms. In particular, I am keen to hear from prospective PhD students interested in the following areas:
- Politics of design and design of politics
- Spaces and politics of aesthetics
- Creative urban writing
- Right-wing spaces
- Fascist and antifascist movements
- Race and space
- Critical theory and critical race theory
Contact Details
+44 29208 74640
Glamorgan Building, Room 2.96, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA