Meaning in Architecture, now. A Debate

Authors

  • Carlo Deregibus Politecnico di Torino
  • Dora Epstein Jones University of Texas at Austin
  • Georgia Lindsay University of Tasmania
  • Eleanor Jolliffe Allies and Morrison
  • Akiko Okabe University of Tokyo
  • Philippa Nyakato Tumubweinee University of Cape Town

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13135/2385-1945/11619

Abstract

More than fifty years have passed since the publication of “Meaning in Architecture”, yet the debate on the issue of meaning in architecture continues to evolve and engage the architectural community, even if in subtler, less apparent ways than in the past. Five questions. Five women. Five places. Five sensitivities. Five visions of architecture. This debate looks at the most critical emerging architectural trends, using the peculiar multivalence of meaning to discuss its architectural nature in a rich discussion involving various architects and scholars in five parallel interviews. Delving into the independence (or not) of architecture, the relevance (or not) of the process, the confrontation between shapes and uses, the economic dimension of design and the rise of AI, the debate aims to give a multifaceted interpretation of meanings, or rather, to explore how architectural design is evolving, and why. The answers were blind and even unknown to each other, so to better highlight the different approaches and ideas: to the reader the possibility of side-reading them and adhering to one, all or even none, postulating a distinct personal position.

Author Biographies

Carlo Deregibus, Politecnico di Torino

Architect and PhD in Architecture and Building Design, is an Assistant Professor of Architectural and Urban Design at Politecnico di Torino, and the design manager of the Masterplan Team – the atheneum’s strategic design division. He has won the VI International Hangai Prize for Young Researchers and, in 2018, his firm, “Bottega di Architettura”, was prized among the ten best emerging architectural practices in Italy.

Dora Epstein Jones, University of Texas at Austin

PhD, is an architectural theorist, and a dedicated educator. She has published in Log, Arch’it, ArcCa and the ACSA, edited for Morphosis and Thom Mayne and written essays for publications by J,P:A, Possible Mediums, Office dA, SCI-Arc’s OnRamp and various group publications. She has been a long-time collaborator with Jones, Partners: Architecture, and has curated a number of exhibitions of art practices by architects.

Georgia Lindsay, University of Tasmania

PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Design at the University of Tasmania and co-leader of the Mediated Constructions lab. She has published books on the user perspective on art museums, the architecture of art museums, and social responses to space, and is currently completing a book about architecture, tourism, and media. She also has experience consulting with building owners on how people respond to design.

Eleanor Jolliffe, Allies and Morrison

Architect and writer. She’s an Associate at Allies and Morrison and the 2023 Rome Scholar in Architecture at The British School at Rome. She has a regular column in Building Design with further published work in Architects’ Journal, Architectural Review, Dezeen, Unherd and with the Saturated Space research group, and was lead author of “Architect; The Evolving Story of a Profession”, published in 2023.

Akiko Okabe, University of Tokyo

Architect, PhD and Professor at the University of Tokyo. She has practiced at Arata Isozaki & Associates in Barcelona. She copes with global environmental issues, working with residents of informal neighbourhoods in developing countries, and with the meaning of regenerative architecture, practicing with students in Gonjiro, a thatched roof farmhouse in Tateyama, Japan.

Philippa Nyakato Tumubweinee, University of Cape Town

Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT), the convenor of the first year in the Bachelor of Architectural Studies at UCT, researcher at the African Centre for Cities (ACC), the Curator and strategic support for the UCT University of the Futures Project, and a practicing architect at Stewart & Partners (S&P) based in Cape Town.

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Published

2024-10-15

How to Cite

Deregibus, C., Epstein Jones, D., Lindsay, G., Jolliffe, E., Okabe, A., & Tumubweinee, P. N. (2024). Meaning in Architecture, now. A Debate. Philosophy Kitchen - Journal of Contemporary Philosophy, (21), 19–56. https://doi.org/10.13135/2385-1945/11619

Issue

No. 21 (2024): Meaning in Architecure, now

Section

section 1 - theories & practices

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.