ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Race and architecture: two highly overworked and ill-understood terms. It is widely understood (implicitly and explicitly) that the makers and users of Architecture have historically and culturally been positioned as white. Scant attention has been paid to the racial identity of the makers and users of architecture and what impact the mythical identity of the white, male and ‘universal’ architect has had on the discipline. This chapter proposes to re-examine the terms ‘architect’ and ‘user’; to open up this racialised discourse and to alter the terms of reference and expose a hidden richness in the ways in which we perceive and use space. At a time when the boundaries, binaries and hierarchies of architecture are under continued attack, it is now possible to re-examine a number of the ‘taken-for-granted’ terms. Jonathan Hill has asked us to re-think the relationship between architect and user but as he himself has already pointed out, ‘the terms space, site, form, architect and user are themselves historical and ideological, not universal and neutral’.2
