Materiality and Architecture

Once regarded as a secondary consideration, materiality has recently emerged as a powerful concept in architectural discourse and practice. Prompted in part by developments in digital fabrication and digital science, the impact of materiality on design and practice is being widely reassessed and reimagined.

Materiality and Architecture extends architectural thinking beyond the confines of current design literature to explore conceptions of materiality across the field of architecture. Fourteen international contributors elucidate the problems and possibilities of materiality-based approaches from interdisciplinary perspectives. The book includes contributions from architecture, art, architectural history, theory, and philosophy, featuring essays from Gernot Böhme, Jonathan Hill, and Philip Ursprung.

Important "immaterial" aspects such as presentation, agency, ecology, and concept are examined, deepening our understanding of materiality's role in architectural processes, the production of cultural identities, the pursuit of political agendas, and the staging of everyday environments and atmospheres. In-depth illustrated case studies examine works by Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid, and Lacaton & Vassal. These are interspersed with visual essays and interviews with architects such as MVRDV, providing a direct connection to practice.

Materiality and Architecture is an important read for researchers and students with an interest in architectural theory and related fields, such as art, art history, or visual and cultural studies.