In the last thirty years or so, architectural theory, under the influence of structuralism, post-structuralism and French critical theory generally, has detached itself from the broader study of architecture and become a self-contained discipline. Academic theorists write essays and treatises for consumption by their postgraduate students, who in turn write more essays and treatises on ever more esoteric aspects of subject. Theory has become a little industry. As such, it has not been unproductive; far from it. It has grown from a makeshift collection of dubious observations and groundless assertions into a fully fledged branch of philosophy. It has gained depth, rigour and above all, ambition. But in the process it has forgotten how to communicate with professional architects and those who study architecture for its own sake.
Colin Davies will sketch out a more practical approach to theory for architects.
Architect, teacher, writer and historian, Colin Davies is a former editor of The Architects’ Journal, a regular contributor to architectural magazines world-wide and a professor at London Metropolitan University. He has made numerous TV and radio appearances and his books include ‘The Prefabricated Home’, ‘High Tech Architecture’, several monographs on the work of architects such as Norman Foster, Michael Hopkins and Nicholas Grimshaw, and most recently ‘Key Houses of the Twentieth Century’ published by Laurence King in 2006.
Colin teaches across a wide range of disciplines, including design, architectural history and theory, building technology and architectural practice. His research interests include technical and semi-technical subjects such as popular housing and prefabrication but he also regularly reviews books on critical theory for the Architectural Review. He believes that technology and history are closer than is normally supposed and often overlap.