Building Ideologies

The Building Ideologies Group (BIG) combines expertise in architectural and urban design history and theory with knowledge from social and political history and theory to gain a better understanding of how during the 20th and 21st centuries, the profession and practice, and the projects and programmes of architecture and urban design changed in response to socio-political, economic, and cultural shifts. The research and education pursued by BIG is self-reflexive as it considers which perspectives we adopt to study these entanglements between ideologies (be they socio-political, economic, or cultural) and the built environment. Rather than formulating solutions, BIG sets out to deepen our knowledge of the societal challenges that those engaged in designing the built environment grapple with in the (professional) practice of architecture and urban design. The work of the group focuses on three tracks:

Profession and Practice

During the 20th century, and particularly after the end of the Second World War, the professional practice of architecture transformed in large parts of the world. In response to socio-political and economic changes, scale became a critical construct, not only with regards to the scale of buildings, but also with regards to the size of firms. From the mid 20th century, corporate firms appeared that assimilated architecture into the larger trends of the expanding service sector, and by the late 20th century the building industry was increasingly restructured as architects explored new types of firms that also operated as real estate developers, facilities managers, builders, or even investors. As part of the ‘Profession and Practice’ track, BIG seeks to understand how such changes occurred on the ground, in Western Europe.

Projects and Programmes

Through the track ‘Projects and Programmes’, BIG seeks to attain a better understanding of the imprints that ideologies leave on our physical, built environment. The group focuses not only on longstanding political ideological traditions such as ‘liberalism’, ‘socialism’ and ‘conservatism’, but also on ‘green’ political thought, ‘feminism’, ‘populism’, etc. By analysing individual building projects as well as (larger) building programmes and urban neighbourhoods, we seek to gain a better understanding of how ideologies shape (and have shaped) our built environment.

Perspectives

BIG is also concerned with how we recount stories about architecture and urban design; whose perspectives we include and what methods we use to do so. The study of architecture and urban design has long been dominated by elites who are mostly Western and male. BIG seeks to open the conversation: to shed light on those who have been silenced, or on those who have remained unheard. Through the ‘Perspectives’ track, BIG tests approaches, methods, and strategies to break this silence; to tell different stories, and study examples from those who already have done so.