Lucius Burckhardt

Lucius Burckhardt (1925-2003) studied sociology and national economics in Basel where he received his doctorate in 1955. After working at the University of Münster, the Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm and the ETH Zurich, he taught as a professor for socio-economics of urban systems at the Gesamthochschule (today: University) Kassel from 1973 to 1997. During this time, Burckhardt, together with his wife Annemarie, developed the famous Spaziergangswissenschaft (promenadology) - a sociological method whose goal is the concentrated and conscious perception of the environment. Burckhardt's preoccupation with sociological problems of building and architecture make him a pioneer of an understanding of planning based on participation.