Institutions and the City: The Role of Architecture

Institutions organize social relations and regulate societies through practices, rites, and rules of conduct. Architecture plays an essential role in establishing, identifying, and perpetuating this social structure, as it formalizes value systems in space and represents ideologies in permanent physical structures. Institutions and the City explores the role of architecture in the Tracé Royal in Brussels, revealing stratagems put in place by various institutions to inscribe themselves on the country's social order and highlighting the importance of architecture in inventing new relationships with institutional spaces to live together better.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 14 November 2022
Publisher: Park Books

Institutions, encompassing the state, church, army, judiciary, university, bank, and more, play a pivotal role in organizing social relations. As social structures, they govern societies through a myriad of practices, rituals, and rules of conduct, shaping our actions and limiting our possibilities. The scope of institutions varies based on how society as a whole perceives and understands them. These entities are constantly evolving, resulting in complex systems.

Architecture plays a crucial role in the establishment, identification, and perpetuation of this social structure. It formalizes value systems in space and represents ideologies in permanent physical structures. Through various strategies, architecture establishes and reveals the way institutions function, shaping the urban landscape and influencing our interactions with these spaces.

In Institutions and the City, the Tracé Royal (Kings Street) in Brussels serves as a case study. Spanning from the Place Royale in the city center to the Église Royale Sainte-Marie in the Schaerbeek district, this thoroughfare is home to numerous national political, legal, religious, financial, and cultural institutions in Belgium. The book delves into the strategies employed by these institutions over time to firmly establish themselves in the country's social order, uncovering similar spatial responses and remarkably common mutation processes. It also highlights the significance of architecture in forging new relationships with institutional spaces, fostering better coexistence in a time when social, political, and cultural reference points are increasingly blurred.

This exploration of the role of architecture in shaping institutions and cities sheds light on the intricate interplay between society, space, and power. It underscores the importance of understanding and designing institutional spaces that promote inclusivity, collaboration, and sustainable development. By recognizing the architectural dimensions of institutions, we can create more resilient, inclusive, and harmonious cities for the future.

Dimension: 290 x 220 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783038602934