Synopses & Reviews
Critical theories such as those of the Frankfurt School of the twentiesand thirties gave rise to a complex and sophisticated critique of modernity andmodernism. The history and theory of twentieth-century architecture, which developedrather independently of this rich tradition, appear naive and unbalanced incomparison. In this exploration of the relationship between modernity, dwelling, andarchitecture, Hilde Heynen attempts to bridge this gap between the discourse of themodern movement and cultural theories of modernity. On one hand, she discussesarchitecture from the perspective of critical theory, and on the other she modifiespositions within critical theory by linking them with architecture. She assessesarchitecture as a cultural field that structures daily life and that embodies majorcontradictions inherent in modernity, arguing that architecture nonetheless has acertain capacity to adopt a critical stance vis-?-vis modernity.Besides presenting atheoretical discussion of the relation between architecture, modernity, anddwelling, the book provides architectural students with an introduction to thediscourse of critical theory. The subchapters on Walter Benjamin, Ernst Bloch, Theodor Adorno, and the Venice School (Tafuri, Dal Co, Cacciari) can be studiedindependently.
Review
[A] very helpful synthetic overview of the principal positions in critical theory's arguments over modernity. The MIT Press
Review
" Architecture and Modernity traces some of the most important momentsof the discourse on the 'crisis' of architecture brought about by thechanges of modernity." Beatriz Colomina , School of Architecture, Princeton University The MIT Press
Review
Architecture and Modernity traces some of the most important momentsof the discourse on the 'crisis' of architecture brought about by thechanges of modernity. South Carolina Review
Synopsis
Critical theories such as those of the Frankfurt School of the twenties and thirties gave rise to a complex and sophisticated critique of modernity and modernism. The history and theory of twentieth-century architecture, which developed rather independently of this rich tradition, appear naive and unbalanced in comparison. In this exploration of the relationship between modernity, dwelling, and architecture, Hilde Heynen attempts to bridge this gap between the discourse of the modern movement and cultural theories of modernity. On one hand, she discusses architecture from the perspective of critical theory, and on the other she modifies positions within critical theory by linking them with architecture. She assesses architecture as a cultural field that structures daily life and that embodies major contradictions inherent in modernity, arguing that architecture nonetheless has a certain capacity to adopt a critical stance vis-
Synopsis
Bridges the gap between the history and theory of twentieth-century architecture and cultural theories of modernity.
In this exploration of the relationship between modernity, dwelling, and architecture, Hilde Heynen attempts to bridge the gap between the discourse of the modern movement and cultural theories of modernity. On one hand, she discusses architecture from the perspective of critical theory, and on the other, she modifies positions within critical theory by linking them with architecture. She assesses architecture as a cultural field that structures daily life and that embodies major contradictions inherent in modernity, arguing that architecture nonetheless has a certain capacity to adopt a critical stance vis-a-vis modernity.
Besides presenting a theoretical discussion of the relation between architecture, modernity, and dwelling, the book provides architectural students with an introduction to the discourse of critical theory. The subchapters on Walter Benjamin, Ernst Bloch, Theodor Adorno, and the Venice School (Tafuri, Dal Co, Cacciari) can be studied independently for this purpose.
Synopsis
In this exploration of the relationship between modernity, dwelling, and architecture, Hilde Heynen attempts to bridge the gap between the discourse of the modern movement and cultural theories of modernity. On one hand, she discusses architecture from the perspective of critical theory, and on the other, she modifies positions within critical theory by linking them with architecture. She assesses architecture as a cultural field that structures daily life and that embodies major contradictions inherent in modernity, arguing that architecture nonetheless has a certain capacity to adopt a critical stance vis-