Overview

Bruno Latour is one of the leading figures in Social Sciences today, but his contributions are also widely recognised in the arts. His theories ‘flourished’ in the 1980s in the aftermath of the structuralism wave and generated new concepts and methodologies for the understanding of the social. In the past decade, Latour and his Actor-Network Theory (ANT) have gained popularity among researchers in the field of architecture. Latour for Architects is the first introduction to the key concepts and ideas of Bruno Latour that are relevant to architects. First, the book discusses critically how specific methods and insights from his philosophy can inspire new thinking in architecture and design pedagogy. Second, it explores examples from architectural practice and urban design, and reviews recent attempts to extend the methods of ANT into the fields of architectural and urban studies. Third, the book advocates an ANT-inspired approach to architecture, and examines how its methodological insights can trace new research avenues in the field, reflecting meticulously on its epistemological offerings. Drawing on many lively examples from the world of architectural practice, the book makes a compelling argument about the agency of architectural design and the role architects can play in re-ordering the world we live in. Following Latour’s philosophy offers a new way to handle all the objects of human and nonhuman collective life, to re-examine the role of matter in design practice, and to redefine the forms of social, political and ethical associations that bind us together in cities.

Full Product Details

9780367348632

Table of Contents

Reviews

At a moment when more and more designers conceive of form as interplay rather than shape and outline, Latour for Architects further extends research and practice beyond the limits of the profession and into new disciplinary coalitions that are increasingly giving authority to spatial variables. Keller Easterling, Enid Storm Dwyer Professor of Architecture, Yale University, School of Architecture, USA

Author Information

Albena Yaneva is Professor of Architectural Theory at the University of Manchester, UK. She is the author of several books, including Crafting History: Archiving and the Quest for Architectural Legacy (2020) and The New Architecture of Science: Learning from Graphene (2020), co-authored with Sir Kostya S. Novoselov. Her work has been translated into nine languages. Yaneva is the recipient of the RIBA President’s award for outstanding research.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available