Between Self and Society: Dilemmas of Contemporary Architecture and their Origins

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The influence of post-structuralist theories on architecture in the last quarter of the twentieth century led to a great extent to an undermining of the supposedly obvious commitment of architecture to society. The diversion of the center of attention to the cultural dimension and the focus on the influence of architecture on the mental world of humanity has led to the neglect of concrete social problems. The decline of these theories at the beginning of the twenty-first century and the increasing awareness in recent years of the difficult social problems of the global age may indicate a change of direction and perhaps even a return to ideals usually associated with the modernist revolution of the beginning of the twentieth century. In this lecture I will take issue with the claim that the individualist tendencies and the disregard for material problems characteristic of recent decades are solely the product of the post-modern era. Recent research on the years during which the modernist theories took shape, especially in nineteenth and early twentieth century Germany, completely undermines the myths surrounding the modernist architectural revolution.

Stream: Arts Agendas

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Published articles in professional journals around the world and chapters in collective volumes in Hebrew, English, and French.