Architecture and the Public Good - Hardcover

Spector, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1785277340 ISBN 13: 9781785277344

Publisher: Anthem Press, 2021

Synopsis

Why has explaining the value of the architecture profession proven so difficult? The architecture profession can be well-defended by demonstrating the public good which results from its protected practice. Although the book believes in this approach, this approach immediately raises the thorny questions of just who is the public, and what is its good? To answer these questions, to explain why the profession has done a poor job explaining itself, and to propose a fresh perspective are the challenges set out in this book. The book dissects the internal weaknesses and external forces which have prevented architects from asserting their value to the public, explains how the concept of the public is itself widely misunderstood, investigates the shifting boundaries of the public and private realms, and proposes a series of measures by which we can assess and improve an architectural work’s publicness. Through a renewed focus on the public good that everyday architects are capable of as a profession, the book charts an ultimately optimistic program for the architecture profession’s renewal. 

About this title

About the Author

Tom Spector is emeritus Professor of Architecture at Oklahoma State University and an internationally-acknowledged leader in the ethics of architecture and in architectural writing.

Edition details

• Publisher: Anthem Press
• Publication date: 2021
• ISBN 10: 1785277340
• ISBN 13: 9781785277344
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 180