How does Architecture Distribute the Sensible?

Jacques Ranciere is one of the leading thinkers not only of contemporary aesthetic theory but contemporary philosophy in general. After his break from Althusser, Ranciere developed the radical and axiomatic principal of the absolute equality of intelligences and capacities that defined his entire body of work, from his critique of philosophy, to his historical studies of emancipated modes of labor and education, to the articulation of dissensus from the order of the police. Ranciere''s trajectory as a philosopher led him towards aesthetics where offered a radical reinterpretation of the political meaning of aesthetics and with it, of modernism and postmodernism that, having shaken the world of art, is now shaking the world of architecture. This book brings Jacques Ranciere''s demand for equality and his reformulation of aesthetics into direct dialogue with architecture. In doing so, it inquires into the role that architecture plays in distributing the sensible, in creating aesthetic experiences, in creating order or dissensus, in serving as a mode of critique, and in emancipating or stultifying its users and subjects. Through this detailed exchange between Ranciere and four of the world''s leading architectural thinkers; Anthony Vidler, Joan Ockman, Peggy Deamer and Michael Young, a debate unfolds within the book that tests the implications of Ranciere''s aesthetic philosophy for architectural practice today; questioning the way we write architectural history, how architects draw, what the labor of the architect is, and that questions key architectural ideas such as the distribution, function, use, ornament, discipline and design.>

Préface
Leading architectural theorists exchange ideas with the contemporary philosopher Jacques Rancière in order to debate what architecture's fundamental relationship is with aesthetics.

Auteur
Joseph Bedford is Associate Professor of History and Theory at Virginia Tech, USA. He holds a PhD from Princeton University, degrees from Cambridge University and the Cooper Union, and is the founding editor of Attention: The Audio Journal for Architecture and The Architecture Exchange, a platform for theoretical exchange in architecture.

Contenu

Chapter 1: Introduction: Joseph Bedford (Virginia tech), How does Architecture Distribute the Sensible? Chapter 2: Peggy Deamer (Yale University), The (Working) Subject of Architecture Interview: Peggy Deamer Chapter 3: Anthony Vidler (The Cooper Union), Partage de l'utopie Interview: Anthony Vidler Chapter 4: Michael Young (The Cooper Union), The Interruption of the Image Interview: Michael Young Chapter 5: Joan Ockman (The University of Pennsylvania), An Apparatus for Emancipated Spectatorship Interview: Joan Ockman Chapter 6: Jacques Rancière (Université de Paris, VIII), Architecture and Aesthetics Interview: Jacques Rancière Chapter 8: Discussion 9: Bibliography