Shiloh Krupar and Stefan Al, 2012, “Notes on the Society of the Brand Spectacle,” in The Handbook of Architectural Theory, eds. C. Greig Crysler, Stephen Cairns, and Hilde Heynen (SAGE), 247-263
Graphics Credit: Stefan Al
The SAGE Handbook of Architectural Theory documents and builds upon some of the most innovative developments in architectural theory over the last two decades. Bringing into dialogue a range of geographically, institutionally and historically competing positions, the book examines and explores parallel debates in related fields. The book is divided into eight sections: Power/Difference/Embodiment; Aesthetics/Pleasure/Excess; Nation/Spectacle/Modernity; History/Memory/Tradition; Design/Practice/Production; Technology/Science/Virtuality; City/Metropolis/Territory; Nature/Landscape/Sustainability. Creating openings for future lines of inquiry and establishing the basis for new directions for education, research and practice, the book organizes itself around specific case studies to provide a critical, interpretive and speculative enquiry into the relevant debates in architectural theory. A methodical, authoritative and comprehensive addition to the literature, the Handbook is suitable for academics, researchers and practitioners in architecture, urban geography, cultural studies, sociology and geography.
“This book is much more than a Handbook of Architectural Theory. It is a handbook of architecture, taking us through the most fundamental and creative thinking in structure, plan and form. It is at the same time a handbook of architectural history; of urbanism; of explorations into site, global city and mega-city; and of the topology and topography of space. None of the existing readers on architecture, urbanism or space have the breadth, the pedagogic value and amalgamation of creative thinking as this SAGE Handbook. A must as a reference resource.”
Scott Lash, Director, Centre for Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, London
“Architectural theory interweaves interdisciplinary understandings with different practices, intentions and ways of knowing. This handbook provides a lucid and comprehensive introduction to this challenging and shifting terrain, and will be of great interest to students, academics and practitioners alike.”
Professor Iain Borden, UCL Bartlett School of Architecture
“The core of architectural theory for the past several decades has looked to architecture’s autonomous structures and formal procedures as its primary material for analysis. Now in this collection, architectural theory expands outward to interact with adjacent discourses such as sustainability, conservation, spatial practices, virtual technologies, and more. We have in The SAGE Handbook of Architectural Theory an example of the extreme generosity of architectural theory. It is a volume that designers and scholars of many stripes will welcome.”
K. Michael Hays, Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory, Harvard University