Architecture Constructed: Notes on a Discipline

Architecture Constructed delves into one of the most profound, yet often overlooked, conflicts within the field of architecture—the age-old tension between arche (the designer) and teckton (the builder). Mark Jarzombek, a renowned architectural theorist, takes a historical and theoretical approach to examine this unresolved tension, which has shaped the discipline from Classical to Renaissance times and continues to impact architecture today.

Jarzombek argues that architecture is a fragmented, unstable field, where labor, craft, and occupation play an invisible but crucial role alongside the work of architects. This thought-provoking book challenges traditional assumptions about architecture, using modern and contemporary examples from influential architects like Mies, Koolhaas, Hadid, and others to highlight how these tensions continue to influence contemporary practice.

Architecture Constructed is an engaging and insightful exploration that will stimulate critical conversation among students, researchers, and designers, encouraging a fresh understanding of architecture’s professional and theoretical boundaries.

Key Features:

• Historical and Theoretical Lens: Uncovers the long-standing tension between designers and builders in architecture

• Insightful and Provocative: Offers a unique perspective on the history and evolution of architecture

• Modern and Contemporary Examples: Features case studies from iconic architects such as Mies, Koolhaas, Hadid, and Bawa

• Challenges Conventional Wisdom: Explores the invisible aspects of architecture, including labor, craft, and occupation

• Stimulates New Conversations: Encourages rethinking the nature of architectural theory, history, and practice

Authors:
Mark Jarzombek (Author)
From the book: