Architecture from Public to Commons

Architecture from Public to Commons explores how architecture can be reimagined and recast within the ideas and politics of the commons and commoning practices. It features contributions from architects, scholars, artists, historians, sociologists, curators, and activists, providing an urgent framework and renewed set of tools to pivot from traditional public to a politicized commons.

Format: Hardback
Length: 292 pages
Publication date: 01 December 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Architecture from Public to Commons is a groundbreaking book that provides an urgent framework and collective reflection on understanding ways to reconsider and recast architecture within the ideas and politics of the commons and practices of commoning. The book opens with a dialogue between institutions, scales of the commons, the limits of language for fluid identities, the practices and challenges of architecture as an institution, the design of objects with apparent shared value in Chile, land protocols that explore alternatives to profit-seeking of property in New York, and spirited conversations about revolting against architectural labor from Latin America.

Continuing chapters explore various topics under the headings of Territories. These include the boundaries of Blackness across the Atlantic between Ethiopia and Atlanta, the underground woven network with conflicting grounds of ipê wood between Brazil and the US, water cycles in depleted territories in Chile, indigenous women-led territorial and human rights struggles in Guatemala, climate change accidental commons in California, and the active search for racial justice between design and place in New Orleans.

Contributions to the book range from theoretical and historical essays to current case studies of on-the-ground practices in the US, the Middle East, Europe, and Central and South America. The book brings together architects, scholars, artists, historians, sociologists, curators, and activists, instilling an urgent framework and renewed set of tools to pivot from architectures traditional public to a politicized commons. It will greatly interest students, academics, and researchers in architecture, urban design, architectural theory, landscape architecture, political economy, and sociology.

In conclusion, Architecture from Public to Commons is a vital and thought-provoking book that offers a fresh perspective on the role of architecture in shaping our collective future. It challenges us to rethink our relationship with the built environment and to explore new ways of designing and organizing spaces that are inclusive, sustainable, and equitable. By engaging with the ideas and practices of commoning, this book provides a roadmap for building a more just and sustainable world.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032394480