Spatial Agency

Spatial Agency is a timely and uplifting treatise on the successful ways that architects have addressed some of society's most vexing global problems. With compelling analysis, richly illustrated by inspiring examples of transformative spatial solutions, the authors argue persuasively that the consequences of architecture are as important as the objects of architecture. This accessibly written book is a must read for anyone seeking an ethical understanding of the role of spatial production in the human struggle to create a democratic and sustainable existence. -- Leslie Kanes Weisman, Emerita Professor of Architecture, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and author of Discrimination by Design: A Feminist Critique of the Man-Made Environment (University of Illinois Press) Spatial Agency's lively entry into the discourse around spatial practice, subjectivity and alterity, inspired by the introduction of Henri Lefebvre and feminist theory into architecture in the mid 1990s, asserts the importance of the concept of agency for understanding architecture's counter-culture over the past 30 years. This succinct and stylish handbook provides the reader with an essential resource for grasping the extraordinarily diverse range of ethical architectural practice. Here is a truly global map of inspiring 'spatial agents' who collectively define architecture -- against the grain. -- Jane Rendell, Vice Dean of Research at the Bartlett, UCL, and author of Art and Architecture (2006), Site-Writing (2010) and co-editor of Critical Architecture (2007)