Can Architecture Be an Emancipatory Project?

Can Architecture Be an Emancipatory Project?

Author: Nadir Z. Lahiji

Publisher: John Hunt Publishing

Published: 2016-03-25

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 178279736X

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Can architectural discourse rethink itself in terms of a radical emancipatory project? And if so, what would be the contours of such a discourse?


Book Synopsis Can Architecture Be an Emancipatory Project? by : Nadir Z. Lahiji

Download or read book Can Architecture Be an Emancipatory Project? written by Nadir Z. Lahiji and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2016-03-25 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can architectural discourse rethink itself in terms of a radical emancipatory project? And if so, what would be the contours of such a discourse?


Architecture or Revolution

Architecture or Revolution

Author: Nadir Lahiji

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-09-22

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 100019616X

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By linking building theory to the emancipatory project of critique advanced by radical thinkers in our time, this work investigates the key conceptual and historical elements that culminate in an emancipatory theory of building entitled: 'Toward a philosophy of shelter’. Taking Marx as its only resource, this work proceeds with the conviction that our era is contemporaneous to Marx’s historical era. This means ‘not judging the validity of Marx from the perspective of the historical situation’, but rather, ‘demonstrating the validity of a Marxian perspective for a singular historical situation’, as ours. This work will therefore translate this perspective into seeing the situation of architecture through the eyes of Marx. All those concerned with the predicament in our current condition in which architecture must play a major social role in upholding the universal value of what Alain Badiou calls 'generic humanity' will take an interest in this work. In particular, architects, critics, scholars, and students inside the field of architecture who would be seeking the application of this universal value to a new theory of building will be a welcoming audience for this work.


Book Synopsis Architecture or Revolution by : Nadir Lahiji

Download or read book Architecture or Revolution written by Nadir Lahiji and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By linking building theory to the emancipatory project of critique advanced by radical thinkers in our time, this work investigates the key conceptual and historical elements that culminate in an emancipatory theory of building entitled: 'Toward a philosophy of shelter’. Taking Marx as its only resource, this work proceeds with the conviction that our era is contemporaneous to Marx’s historical era. This means ‘not judging the validity of Marx from the perspective of the historical situation’, but rather, ‘demonstrating the validity of a Marxian perspective for a singular historical situation’, as ours. This work will therefore translate this perspective into seeing the situation of architecture through the eyes of Marx. All those concerned with the predicament in our current condition in which architecture must play a major social role in upholding the universal value of what Alain Badiou calls 'generic humanity' will take an interest in this work. In particular, architects, critics, scholars, and students inside the field of architecture who would be seeking the application of this universal value to a new theory of building will be a welcoming audience for this work.


An Architecture Manifesto

An Architecture Manifesto

Author: Nadir Lahiji

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-02-06

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 0429885067

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In this manifesto, the author takes a leap of faith. It is a faith in Lost Causes. He asserts that today, architectonic reason has fallen into ruins. As soon as architecture leaves the limits set to it by architectonic reason, no other path is open to it but the path to aestheticism. This is the wrong path contemporary architecture has taken. In its reduction to a pure aesthetic object, architecture negatively affects the human sensorium. Capitalist consumer society creates desires by generating ‘surplus-enjoyment’ for capitalist profit and contemporary architecture has become an instrument in generating this ‘surplus-enjoyment’, with fatal consequences. This manifesto is thus both a critique and a work of theory. It is a siren, alarm, klaxon to the current status quo within architectural discourse and a timely response to the conditions of architecture today.


Book Synopsis An Architecture Manifesto by : Nadir Lahiji

Download or read book An Architecture Manifesto written by Nadir Lahiji and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-02-06 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this manifesto, the author takes a leap of faith. It is a faith in Lost Causes. He asserts that today, architectonic reason has fallen into ruins. As soon as architecture leaves the limits set to it by architectonic reason, no other path is open to it but the path to aestheticism. This is the wrong path contemporary architecture has taken. In its reduction to a pure aesthetic object, architecture negatively affects the human sensorium. Capitalist consumer society creates desires by generating ‘surplus-enjoyment’ for capitalist profit and contemporary architecture has become an instrument in generating this ‘surplus-enjoyment’, with fatal consequences. This manifesto is thus both a critique and a work of theory. It is a siren, alarm, klaxon to the current status quo within architectural discourse and a timely response to the conditions of architecture today.


Critique of Architecture

Critique of Architecture

Author: Douglas Spencer

Publisher: Birkhäuser

Published: 2021-01-18

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 3035621640

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Critique of Architecture offers a renewed and radical theorization of the relations between capital and architecture. It explicates the theoretical gymnastics through which architecture legitimates its services to neoliberalism, examines the discipline’s production of platforms for happily compliant consumers, and challenges its entrepreneurial self-image. Critique of Architecture also addresses the discourse of autonomy, questioning its capacity to engage effectively with the terms and conditions of capitalism today, analyses the post-political turns of contemporary architecture theory, and reckons with the legacies and limitations of critical theory.


Book Synopsis Critique of Architecture by : Douglas Spencer

Download or read book Critique of Architecture written by Douglas Spencer and published by Birkhäuser. This book was released on 2021-01-18 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critique of Architecture offers a renewed and radical theorization of the relations between capital and architecture. It explicates the theoretical gymnastics through which architecture legitimates its services to neoliberalism, examines the discipline’s production of platforms for happily compliant consumers, and challenges its entrepreneurial self-image. Critique of Architecture also addresses the discourse of autonomy, questioning its capacity to engage effectively with the terms and conditions of capitalism today, analyses the post-political turns of contemporary architecture theory, and reckons with the legacies and limitations of critical theory.


Architecture and Retrenchment

Architecture and Retrenchment

Author: Helena Mattsson

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-01-26

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1350148245

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Scholars in architectural and urban history have, over the last decade, been trying to come to terms with architecture's 'neoliberal turn' and its various impacts - from municipal policy to the artistic imagination. However most scholarship has focussed on generalizations, with very little work to date focussing on specific cases. Architecture and Retrenchment brings one such case to the fore – investigating the relation between architecture and the Swedish Model of the welfare state. It tracks the response of architecture to the gradual retrenchment and ultimate dismantling of the Swedish welfare state – which was, in its heyday, world-famous for its integration of architecture and the built environment into the welfare system. Ultimately, neoliberal economics prevailed, yet this book reveals how new architectural strategies and techniques were developed in order to protect the agency of architecture in the newly reorganised society of the 1980s and 1990s. Through eight in-depth case-studies, the book situates the often abstract, generalised discourse of neoliberalism and privatisation in specific architectural sites, and provides an original interpretation of how architecture, space, aesthetics, and politics converged at the end of the twentieth century.


Book Synopsis Architecture and Retrenchment by : Helena Mattsson

Download or read book Architecture and Retrenchment written by Helena Mattsson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-01-26 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars in architectural and urban history have, over the last decade, been trying to come to terms with architecture's 'neoliberal turn' and its various impacts - from municipal policy to the artistic imagination. However most scholarship has focussed on generalizations, with very little work to date focussing on specific cases. Architecture and Retrenchment brings one such case to the fore – investigating the relation between architecture and the Swedish Model of the welfare state. It tracks the response of architecture to the gradual retrenchment and ultimate dismantling of the Swedish welfare state – which was, in its heyday, world-famous for its integration of architecture and the built environment into the welfare system. Ultimately, neoliberal economics prevailed, yet this book reveals how new architectural strategies and techniques were developed in order to protect the agency of architecture in the newly reorganised society of the 1980s and 1990s. Through eight in-depth case-studies, the book situates the often abstract, generalised discourse of neoliberalism and privatisation in specific architectural sites, and provides an original interpretation of how architecture, space, aesthetics, and politics converged at the end of the twentieth century.


Architecture, Media, Populism... and Violence

Architecture, Media, Populism... and Violence

Author: Graham Cairns

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-10-07

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1000713172

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The ‘Storming of the Capitol’ was, for many, the culminating media performance of the four-year presidency of Donald Trump. His presidency and its ‘final act’, bore all the hallmarks of a 21st century form of populism and media-politico spectacle that may yet come to dominate the political scene in the US, and worldwide, for years to come. The questions that such events raise are complex, varied and operative across a multitude of disciplines. This book engages with these vexed questions in the broad fields of politics and media, but does so, uniquely, through the prism of architecture. This book does not, however, limit its view to the recent events in Washington DC or the United States. Rather, it seeks to use those events as the starting point for a critique of architecture in the tapestry of mediated forms of protest and ‘political action’ more generally. Each chapter draws on case studies from across timeframes and across nations. The book sharpens our critique of the relationship between direct political action, its media representation and the role it assigns to architecture – as played out globally in the age of mass media. In doing so, it opens up broader debates about the past, present and future roles of architecture as a political tool in the context of international political systems now dominated by changing and unpredictable uses of media, and characterised by an increasingly volatile and at times violent form of political activism. It is essential reading for any student or researcher engaging with these questions.


Book Synopsis Architecture, Media, Populism... and Violence by : Graham Cairns

Download or read book Architecture, Media, Populism... and Violence written by Graham Cairns and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ‘Storming of the Capitol’ was, for many, the culminating media performance of the four-year presidency of Donald Trump. His presidency and its ‘final act’, bore all the hallmarks of a 21st century form of populism and media-politico spectacle that may yet come to dominate the political scene in the US, and worldwide, for years to come. The questions that such events raise are complex, varied and operative across a multitude of disciplines. This book engages with these vexed questions in the broad fields of politics and media, but does so, uniquely, through the prism of architecture. This book does not, however, limit its view to the recent events in Washington DC or the United States. Rather, it seeks to use those events as the starting point for a critique of architecture in the tapestry of mediated forms of protest and ‘political action’ more generally. Each chapter draws on case studies from across timeframes and across nations. The book sharpens our critique of the relationship between direct political action, its media representation and the role it assigns to architecture – as played out globally in the age of mass media. In doing so, it opens up broader debates about the past, present and future roles of architecture as a political tool in the context of international political systems now dominated by changing and unpredictable uses of media, and characterised by an increasingly volatile and at times violent form of political activism. It is essential reading for any student or researcher engaging with these questions.


The Efficacy of Architecture

The Efficacy of Architecture

Author: Tahl Kaminer

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2016-12-08

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1317437446

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A significant ideological transition has taken place in the discipline of architecture in the last few years. Originating in a displeasure with the ‘starchitecture’ system and the focus on aesthetic innovation, a growing number of architects, emboldened by the 2007–8 economic crisis, have staged a rebellion against the dominant mode of architectural production. Against a ‘disinterested’ position emulating high art, they have advocated political engagement, citizen participation and the right to the city. Against the fascination with the rarefied architectural object, they have promoted an interest in everyday life, play, self-build and personalization. At the centre of this rebellion is the call for architecture to (re-)assume its social and political role in society. The Efficacy of Architecture supports the return of architecture to politics by interrogating theories, practices and instances that claim or evidence architectural agency. It studies the political theories animating the architects, revisits the emergence of reformist architecture in the late nineteenth century, and brings to the fore the relation of spatial organization to social forms. In the process, a clearer picture emerges of the agency of architecture, of the threats to as well as potentials for meaningful societal transformation through architectural design.


Book Synopsis The Efficacy of Architecture by : Tahl Kaminer

Download or read book The Efficacy of Architecture written by Tahl Kaminer and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-12-08 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A significant ideological transition has taken place in the discipline of architecture in the last few years. Originating in a displeasure with the ‘starchitecture’ system and the focus on aesthetic innovation, a growing number of architects, emboldened by the 2007–8 economic crisis, have staged a rebellion against the dominant mode of architectural production. Against a ‘disinterested’ position emulating high art, they have advocated political engagement, citizen participation and the right to the city. Against the fascination with the rarefied architectural object, they have promoted an interest in everyday life, play, self-build and personalization. At the centre of this rebellion is the call for architecture to (re-)assume its social and political role in society. The Efficacy of Architecture supports the return of architecture to politics by interrogating theories, practices and instances that claim or evidence architectural agency. It studies the political theories animating the architects, revisits the emergence of reformist architecture in the late nineteenth century, and brings to the fore the relation of spatial organization to social forms. In the process, a clearer picture emerges of the agency of architecture, of the threats to as well as potentials for meaningful societal transformation through architectural design.


Art and Resistance in Germany

Art and Resistance in Germany

Author: Deborah Ascher Barnstone

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2018-11-01

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1501344889

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In light of the recent rise of right-wing populism in numerous political contexts and in the face of resurgent nationalism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and demagoguery, this book investigates how historical and contemporary cultural producers have sought to resist, confront, confound, mock, or call out situations of political oppression in Germany, a country which has seen a dramatic range of political extremes during the past century. While the current turn to nationalist populism is global, it is perhaps most disturbing in Germany, given its history with its stormy first democracy in the interwar Weimar Republic; its infamous National Socialist (Nazi) period of the 1930s and 1940s; and its split Cold-War existence, with Marxist-Leninist Totalitarianism in the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany's barely-hidden ties to the Nazi past. Equally important, Germans have long considered art and culture critical to constructions of national identity, which meant that they were frequently implicated in political action. This book therefore examines a range of work by artists from the early twentieth century to the present, work created in an array of contexts and media that demonstrates a wide range of possible resistance.


Book Synopsis Art and Resistance in Germany by : Deborah Ascher Barnstone

Download or read book Art and Resistance in Germany written by Deborah Ascher Barnstone and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In light of the recent rise of right-wing populism in numerous political contexts and in the face of resurgent nationalism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and demagoguery, this book investigates how historical and contemporary cultural producers have sought to resist, confront, confound, mock, or call out situations of political oppression in Germany, a country which has seen a dramatic range of political extremes during the past century. While the current turn to nationalist populism is global, it is perhaps most disturbing in Germany, given its history with its stormy first democracy in the interwar Weimar Republic; its infamous National Socialist (Nazi) period of the 1930s and 1940s; and its split Cold-War existence, with Marxist-Leninist Totalitarianism in the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany's barely-hidden ties to the Nazi past. Equally important, Germans have long considered art and culture critical to constructions of national identity, which meant that they were frequently implicated in political action. This book therefore examines a range of work by artists from the early twentieth century to the present, work created in an array of contexts and media that demonstrates a wide range of possible resistance.


This Thing Called Theory

This Thing Called Theory

Author: Teresa Stoppani

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2016-11-10

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 131540625X

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22 White, wide and scattered: picturing her housing career -- 23 Toward a theory of Interior -- 24 Repositioning. Theory now. Don't excavate, change reality! -- Part VII: Forms of engagement -- 25 (Un)political -- 26 Prince complex: narcissism and reproduction of the architectural mirror -- 27 Less than enough: a critique of Aureli's project -- 28 Repositioning. Having ideas -- 29 Post-scriptum. 'But that is not enough' -- Index


Book Synopsis This Thing Called Theory by : Teresa Stoppani

Download or read book This Thing Called Theory written by Teresa Stoppani and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-11-10 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 22 White, wide and scattered: picturing her housing career -- 23 Toward a theory of Interior -- 24 Repositioning. Theory now. Don't excavate, change reality! -- Part VII: Forms of engagement -- 25 (Un)political -- 26 Prince complex: narcissism and reproduction of the architectural mirror -- 27 Less than enough: a critique of Aureli's project -- 28 Repositioning. Having ideas -- 29 Post-scriptum. 'But that is not enough' -- Index


The Ethics of a Potential Urbanism

The Ethics of a Potential Urbanism

Author: Camillo Boano

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2016-11-25

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 1134883285

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The Ethics of a Potential Urbanism explores the possible and potential relevance of Giorgio Agamben’s political thoughts and writings for the theory and the practice of architecture and urban design. It sketches out the potentiality of Agamben’s politics, which can affect change in current architectural and design discourses. The book investigates the possibility of an inoperative architecture, as an ethical shift for a different practice, just a little bit different, but able to deactivate the sociospatial dispositive and mobilize a new theory and a new project for the urban now to come. This particular reading from Agamben’s oeuvre suggests a destituent mode of both thinking and practicing of architecture and urbanism that could possibly redeem them from their social emptiness, cultural irrelevance, economic reductionism and proto-avant-garde extravagance, contributing to a renewed critical ‘encounter’ with architecture’s aesthetic-political function.


Book Synopsis The Ethics of a Potential Urbanism by : Camillo Boano

Download or read book The Ethics of a Potential Urbanism written by Camillo Boano and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-11-25 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ethics of a Potential Urbanism explores the possible and potential relevance of Giorgio Agamben’s political thoughts and writings for the theory and the practice of architecture and urban design. It sketches out the potentiality of Agamben’s politics, which can affect change in current architectural and design discourses. The book investigates the possibility of an inoperative architecture, as an ethical shift for a different practice, just a little bit different, but able to deactivate the sociospatial dispositive and mobilize a new theory and a new project for the urban now to come. This particular reading from Agamben’s oeuvre suggests a destituent mode of both thinking and practicing of architecture and urbanism that could possibly redeem them from their social emptiness, cultural irrelevance, economic reductionism and proto-avant-garde extravagance, contributing to a renewed critical ‘encounter’ with architecture’s aesthetic-political function.