Life is a building site: not just since the German film of that name was released, the building site has been a popular metaphor for the patchwork plans of contemporary life. The phenomenon of the building site runs through our everyday lives, but it largely remains behind construction site fences. This volume looks behind the barriers and focuses on the building site as such for the first time. With authoritative information and reflection from a variety of perspectives, some quite surprising, the building site is presented as an extraordinary place in the city and as a microcosm that operates under heavy pressures of time and costs. With essays on specific building sites such as the megaproject Sihlcity in Zurich or the Neue Messe in Stuttgart, interviews with architects and construction managers, and impressive illustrations, the book leaps into a gap in the urban landscape. The publication is rounded out by artistic, photographic interventions like those of Miklos Gaals, who is known for his photographs that turn urban scenes into toys.