An examination of Berlin's turbulent history through the lens of its water and energy infrastructures.
In Remaking Berlin, Timothy Moss takes a novel perspective on Berlin's turbulent twentieth-century history, examining it through the lens of its water and energy infrastructures. He shows that, through a century of changing regimes, geopolitical interventions, and socioeconomic volatility, Berlin's networked urban infrastructures have acted as medium and manifestation of municipal, national, and international politics and policies. Moss traces the coevolution of Berlin and its infrastructure systems from the creation of Greater Berlin in 1920 to remunicipalization of services in 2020, encompassing democratic, fascist, and socialist regimes.
"In this tour de force, Moss undertakes the vital work of unpacking the entwined histories of cities and infrastructure. Beautifully written, insightful, and thought-provoking in equal measure, Remaking Berlin provides a novel account of one of the world’s most iconic cities and a new way of looking at the way our worlds have been made through infrastructure. It will be essential reading for all those interested in both the past and future of our cities for a long time to come." – Professor Harriet Bulkeley, FBA, Durham University, UK, and Utrecht University, the Netherlands
"This extraordinary book sets new standards for the study of urban infrastructure. With his meticulous combination of archival sources with insights derived from urban history, science and technology studies, and many other fields, Tim Moss has produced an exemplary addition to the literature on Berlin, and on modernity more generally." – Matthew Gandy, Professor of Geography, University of Cambridge
"Remaking Berlin is a remarkable history of the city’s energy and water networks. Moss uses a rich trove of evidence to illustrate how urban technologies shape geopolitics, economics and culture." – Andrew Karvonen, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, author of Politics of Urban Runoff: Nature, Technology, and the Sustainable City
"This engaging study provides an insightful account of a hundred years of infrastructure history of Berlin, a city constantly making and remaking itself. Timothy Moss gives a face and a voice to those who planned and built in the city." – Dolores L. Augustine, author of Red Prometheus: Engineering and Dictatorship in East Germany and Taking on Technocracy: Nuclear Power in Germany, 1945 to the Present
Timothy Moss is Senior Researcher at the Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems at Humboldt University of Berlin.
An examination of Berlin's turbulent history through the lens of its water and energy infrastructures.
In Remaking Berlin, Timothy Moss takes a novel perspective on Berlin's turbulent twentieth-century history, examining it through the lens of its water and energy infrastructures. He shows that, through a century of changing regimes, geopolitical interventions, and socioeconomic volatility, Berlin's networked urban infrastructures have acted as medium and manifestation of municipal, national, and international politics and policies. Moss traces the coevolution of Berlin and its infrastructure systems from the creation of Greater Berlin in 1920 to remunicipalization of services in 2020, encompassing democratic, fascist, and socialist regimes.
Reviews
"In this tour de force, Moss undertakes the vital work of unpacking the entwined histories of cities and infrastructure. Beautifully written, insightful, and thought-provoking in equal measure, Remaking Berlin provides a novel account of one of the world’s most iconic cities and a new way of looking at the way our worlds have been made through infrastructure. It will be essential reading for all those interested in both the past and future of our cities for a long time to come." – Professor Harriet Bulkeley, FBA, Durham University, UK, and Utrecht University, the Netherlands
"This extraordinary book sets new standards for the study of urban infrastructure. With his meticulous combination of archival sources with insights derived from urban history, science and technology studies, and many other fields, Tim Moss has produced an exemplary addition to the literature on Berlin, and on modernity more generally." – Matthew Gandy, Professor of Geography, University of Cambridge
"Remaking Berlin is a remarkable history of the city’s energy and water networks. Moss uses a rich trove of evidence to illustrate how urban technologies shape geopolitics, economics and culture." – Andrew Karvonen, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, author of Politics of Urban Runoff: Nature, Technology, and the Sustainable City
"This engaging study provides an insightful account of a hundred years of infrastructure history of Berlin, a city constantly making and remaking itself. Timothy Moss gives a face and a voice to those who planned and built in the city." – Dolores L. Augustine, author of Red Prometheus: Engineering and Dictatorship in East Germany and Taking on Technocracy: Nuclear Power in Germany, 1945 to the Present
Author
Timothy Moss is Senior Researcher at the Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems at Humboldt University of Berlin.
