ABSTRACT
The literature on architecture is torn between two versions of design process: a technological one and another more social or more humanistic. Architectural scholarship too often reproduces the very ambiguity of architecture between efficacy and symbols or, even more rudimentary, between function and form. As an autonomous practice, it reacts to the influences of economy, society and culture and acts upon these realms, although both resolutely remain on opposite sides of the barrier. The Mapping Controversies inquiry is inspired by William James's project of radical empiricism that argues for a different sense of the word 'empiricism'. Although the Sydney Opera House controversy developed according to its own logic, its distinctive iconic shape is said to pertain to the unrecognized genius of Jørn Utzon, and is interpreted as a symbolic expression of Sydney's progressive urban culture. The London 2012 Olympic Stadium will be praised for magically solving social problems in east London.
