Introduction

This book presents a criticism of contemporary architecture, the thematic of which is centered on the disciplinary history of architecture. Through a discussion of architecture’s problematic rapport with technology and aesthetics, the aim is to present a critical understanding of how architecture thrives through the production and consumption systems of capitalism. Whereas at one point in time in contemporary history, architects were able to use available techniques and materials and charge architecture with aesthetic sensibilities (image) associable with the machine and/or place, in the present age of digital reproduction the image is valorized beyond what was experienced through the spectacle of old carnivals and stage-sets, one main task of which was to dramatize the event and/ or the play respectively. During late capitalism, the image has become a spectacle with wide connotations, which surpass the frescoes whose operative domain remained conned to the interior space of religious buildings. These developments concerning the function of image in culture are discussed by a number of critical thinkers as they explore its consequences for architecture.