Writing Spaces: Discourses of Architecture, Urbanism and the Built Environment, 1960û2000

Writing Spacesexamines some of the most important discourses in spatial theory of the last four decades, and considers their impact within-as well as beyond-the built environment disciplines. The analysis is situated in the context of the scholarly journal, which, the editor argues, has become a pre-eminent, if largely unexamined context for academic debates. Five influential publications, based in disciplines ranging from architectural history and theory, to urban studies and geography, act as case studies. Drawing on theories of representation, global cultural studies, and the sociology and political economy of knowledge, the editor explores the interplay between critical theories and the wide range of social and institutional forces that support, and inform their production. Writing Spacesargues that scholarly writing influences the priorities and values that inform professional practice, and hence, the built form of cities. The book will be a key resource for courses on criticaltheory in architecture, urban studies and geography, at both the graduate and advanced undergraduate level.