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Theory’s History

Architectural Discourse in Europe and the United States, 1960–Present

Joseph Bedford (Editor),

Paperback
Epub
PDF

Category: Architecture and Urban Planning

Language: English

DOI: 10.11116/9789461668073

ISBN: 9789462705470

Publication date: November 3, 2026

€52.00 (including 6% VAT)

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Available to pre-order two weeks before date of publication.

Size: 234 x 156 x mm

Number of illustrations: 30

Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated, full colour

Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
Swiss National Science Foundation
Open Book Collective
ETH Zürich
Virginia Tech
University of Toronto
McGill University
University of Westminster

Standard delivery time for print books:

For Belgium: 5 to 8 working days

For EU: 2 to 3 weeks

For other countries: 4 to 5 weeks

Category: Architecture and Urban Planning

Language: English

DOI: 10.11116/9789461668073

ISBN: 9789461668073

Publication date: November 3, 2026

COMING SOON

Number of illustrations: 30

Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated, full colour

Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
Swiss National Science Foundation
Open Book Collective
ETH Zürich
Virginia Tech
University of Toronto
McGill University
University of Westminster

Category: Architecture and Urban Planning

Language: English

DOI: 10.11116/9789461668073

ISBN: 9789461668066

Publication date: November 3, 2026

COMING SOON

Number of illustrations: 30

Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated, full colour

Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
Swiss National Science Foundation
Open Book Collective
ETH Zürich
Virginia Tech
University of Toronto
McGill University
University of Westminster

Summary
About the Editors
Contributing Authors
Reviews

History of architectural theory from the 1960s to the 2000s, bringing together rigorous new work by leading historians in the field.

Architectural theory in Europe and America became a central driving force in architectural culture from the 1960s to the 2000s. It flourished especially in schools of architecture, in response to the crisis of modern architecture, the cultural and political transformations of the 1960s and the rise of postmodernism. It then entered a period of decline toward the 2000s, as architecture became globally in demand, the cultural shifts of the sixties faded from view, and postmodernism lost its luster. This book investigates the history of theory through a series of rich case studies by leading scholars, mapping out the key themes, books, architects and ideas that shaped architectural theory’s rise to prominence. The case studies offer new insights into architectural theory’s internal dynamics, problematics, context, methods and mechanisms, as well as new interpretations of its fated end.

Joseph Bedford

Joseph Bedford is an Associate Professor of History and Theory at Virginia Tech and the Director of the Architecture Exchange, a platform for theoretical exchange in architecture.

Cristobal Amunategui

Jana Ndiaye Berankova

Roberto Damiani

Irina Davidovici

Stylianos Giamarelos

Andrew Leach

Alex Maymind

Ivonne Santoyo-Orozco

Lea-Catherine Szacka

Silvia Micheli

Alessandro Toti

Cathelijne Nuijsink

Hilde Heynen

Hilde Heynen is professor emerita of architectural theory at KU Leuven.

David Theodore

Hanan Kataw

Galo Canizares

This incisive and illuminating volume offers a much needed reassessment of how architectural thought has been shaped and reshaped over the past half century. Gathering a rich constellation of case studies, it restores depth and texture to the discipline’s intellectual history, reaffirming history theory criticism as a rigorous mode of inquiry attuned to the subtle currents and entangled trajectories that have long animated architecture’s intellectual, political, and institutional life. - Wouter Van Acker, Université libre de Bruxelles

Theory’s History is both a memorial and an affirmation. A documentation of the end of architectural theory (at least some versions), but also an example of the impulse to theorize (regardless of imprimatur). Architecture Theory is History, Long live Architecture’s Theories. - John McMorrough, University of Michigan