Overview

This book seeks to provide an alternative post-Western perspective to the history of contemporary architecture. It puts forward detailed critical analyses of various areas of the world, including Europe, Latin America, Africa, China, Australia, India and Japan, where particular movements of architecture have developed as active ‘political acts’. The authors focus on a broad spectrum of countries, architectures and architects that have developed a design approach closely linked to the building context. The concept of context is broad and includes various economic, social, cultural, political and natural aspects. In all cases, the architects selected in this book have chosen to view context as an opportunity. However, each architect has considered certain specific aspects of context: some have been very attentive to the social context, others to material aspects or typological issues, and still others to aspects related to political visions or economic factors. The analysis critically highlights interesting, creative and respectful design approaches towards local conditions, such as sustainability in Nordic Europe, climate-conscious design in Africa, and the ‘bottom-up’ sensitivity of India. The book’s main aim is to retrace, through both theoretical arguments and case studies, the debate that focuses on politics and the environment. Thanks to its valuable examples, this book strives to make a conscious contribution to establishing a bulwark against the current ‘flattening-out’ processes that architecture is experiencing. This book will be of relevance to researchers, teachers and students interested in the history of architecture, architecture and planning, and postcolonial studies.

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9781032362922

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Reviews

Responding to recent appeals to decolonize architectural knowledge, this book presents an unconventional viewpoint beyond Western-centric narratives of the history of contemporary architecture. And it offers a thorough critical account of the di­verse regions of the world (including Europe, Latin America, Africa, China, Australia, India and Japan) where architectural move­ments have emerged as ac­tive expressions of politics. The authors, Pilar Maria Guerrieri and Marco Biraghi, scrutinize a wide array of architectural styles and architects whose values are tangled with their respective contexts…The book offers a rich array of architectural narratives that highlight the symbiotic relationship between architecture and its socio-political milieu, urging a critical appraisal of architectural history and practice...Through a carefully selected set of examples, it reawakens discussions surrounding politics and the environment while providing a counterpoint to the hegemony of Western architectural thinking. Ashraf M. Salama, University of Northumbria. Fall 2024 issue of Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review.

Author Information

Pilar Maria Guerrieri is an architectural historian who has lived between Italy, the UK and India for almost ten years. She has a PhD in Architectural Composition and a second degree in Philosophy. Currently, she teaches History of Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy. She is the author of Maps of Delhi (Niyogi, 2017), Negotiating Cultures: Delhi’s Architecture and Planning from 1912 to 1962 (Oxford University Press, 2018) and Egizio Nichelli Architetto (1937–1991) (Franco Angeli, 2022). Marco Biraghi is a professor at the Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, where he teaches History of Contemporary Architecture. His published works include Project of Crisis: Manfredo Tafuri and Contemporary Architecture (The MIT Press, 2013), Storia dell’architettura italiana 1985–2015 (with S. Micheli, Einaudi, 2013), L’architetto come intellettuale (Einaudi, 2019), Questa è architettura. Il progetto come filosofia della prassi (Einaudi, 2021) and Storia dell’architettura contemporanea II 1945–2023 (Einaudi, 2023).

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