Philosophy for Architects: Books

A philosophical account of architecture based on an investigation of the singularity of architectural practice and theory. Ideas such as time, architectural theory, lines, diagrams, and the body in space are explroed.

An introduction to philosophical questions of interest to students of architectural theory. Topics include Aristotle's theories of "visual imagination" and their relevance to digital design, the problem of optical correction as explored by Plato, Hegel's theory of Zeitgeist, and Kant's examinations of space and aesthetics, among others. Focusing primarily on nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophy

A collection of essays by academics and architects that attempts a careful critique of modernist, corporate, or techno-enthralled design practices, leading to an approach the authors refer to as "relational ecology."

In order for architecture to serve a common ethos it first has to free itself from the dominant formalist approach, and get beyond the notion that its purpose is to produce endless variations of the decorated shed.

A collection of essays by academics and architects that explore how architecture as a human activity is not merely limited to questions of technical and aesthetic knowledge. Instead, the architect's knowledge and understanding is also conditioned by a framework of values that are shared and defined by the culture in general.

How the cultural relativism found in Historicism means for architecture that, "there is no intrinsic justification for any attempt to prescribe universal and permanent norms or principles to guide any field of human endeavor, including the making of buildings."

How the overlooked -- by postmodernism -- humanist basis of modern architecture is the only sound approach to the future.

An investigation of contemporary architecture in terms of the transition from a Marxist critique of early 20th Century German urban sociologists to problems in the work of the Viennese architect Adolf Loos.

An attempt to help the reader to think creatively about architecture. It draws its inspiration chiefly from the French thinkers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, and the American philosopher Richard Rorty.

How phenomenology is a precursor of postmodernism and though the latter has exerted an influence on architecture.

How the concepts of modernity and post-modernity, and their common distinction from tradition, find expression in contemporary architecture.

How, starting with the Renaissance, modern architecture has been influenced by the philosophies of rationalism and romanticism.

How contemporary architects such as Christian Norbert-Schulz, Juhani Pallasmaa and Kenneth Frampton have used ideas drawn from the phenomenology of Husserl, Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger in their work.

Available only as an eBook

An intriguing synthesis that draws on philosophy, painting, and psychology as well as architectural theory, to get inside a number of deceptively simple-sounding concepts-- folding, lightness, grounds.

A collection of essays by academics, artists and architects that approach formal and existential questions of architecture from the perspectives of phenomenology and deconstructionism.

A collection of essays by philosophers and architects that approach the question of the productive paradox of presence & absence in the appearances of things from the perspective of art, architecture, and philosophy.

A short survey introducing Pierre Bourdieu's work on spatial and material culture with the purpose of helping architects to understand the social, political, cultural, and professional milieu in which they operate.

How the Post-Structuralist critique of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari has come to influence architectural theory.

An introduction to key concepts in Foucault's thought and how these have come to affect architecture

Available only as an eBook

An introduction to key concepts in Heidegger's thought and how these have come to affect architecture

The Poetics of Space one of the most appealing and lyrical explorations of home. Bachelard takes us on a journey, from cellar to attic, to show how our perceptions of houses and other shelters shape our thoughts, memories, and dreams.

Benjamin’s famous “Work of Art” essay sets out his boldest thoughts—on media and on culture in general—in their most realized form.