Critical History of Contemporary Architecture

Dr Elie G. Haddad is the Dean of the School of Architecture and Design at the Lebanese American University, Lebanon and Dr David Rifkind is a Lecturer in Architecture at the Florida International University, USA.

• Contents: Introduction: modernism and beyond: the plurality of contemporary architectures, Elie G. Haddad and David Rifkind. Part I Major Developments After Modernism: Modern (or contemporary) architecture circa 1959, Peter L. Laurence; Post-modernism: critique and reaction, David Rifkind; High-tech: modernism redux, Sarah Deyong; Deconstruction: the project of radical self-criticism, Elie G. Haddad; Greening architecture: the impact of sustainability, Phillip Tabb; Postcolonial theories in architecture, Esra Akcan. Part II Architectural Developments Around the World: Architecture in North America since 1960, Brendan Moran; Architectural developments in Latin America: 1960-2010, Zeuler R.M. de A. Lima; The place of commonplace: the ordinary as alternative architectural lens in Western Europe, Tom Avermaete; Dutch modern architecture: from an architecture of consensus to the culture of congestion, Frances Hsu; Metaphorical peripheries: architecture in Spain and Portugal, Xavier Costa; Architecture in Switzerland: a natural history, Laurent Stalder; Architecture in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union since 1960, Kimberley Elman Zarecor; Finland: architecture and cultural identity, Taisto H. Mäkelä; Architecture in Africa: situated modern and the production of locality, Iain Low; Global conflict and global glitter: architecture of West Asia (1960-2010), Esra Akcan; Old sites, new frontiers: modern and contemporary architecture in Iran, Pamela Karimi; Beyond tropical regionalism: the architecture of Southeast Asia, Kelly Shannon; Internationalism and architecture in India after Nehru, Amit Srivastava and Peter Scriver; Architecture in China in the reform era: 1978-2010, Tao Zhu; Architecture in post-World War II Japan, Ken Tadashi Oshima; Edge of centre: architecture in Australia and New Zealand after 1965, Philip Goad. Index.

’With modern architecture’s collapse as a unified body of thought and practice by the 1960s, the global field of architectural production has been marked by extraordinary diversity and innovation. This substantial volume ranges over wide territory, providing insightful critical and geographic perspectives on the last half century of architecture and locating the most significant points of reference for a revised historical understanding. The more than twenty contributors belong to a new generation of scholars. Carefully edited by Elie Haddad and David Rifkind and generously illustrated, this is an invaluable guide to architecture’s recent past as well as to its present.’ Joan Ockman, author of Architecture Culture 1943-1968: A Documentary Anthology