ABSTRACT
The eight chapters that comprise this section are connected by an interest in the con-
ditions of criticism in architecture and their relation to questions of action (or ‘practice’,
or ‘operativity’). The sequence in which the chapters are presented is intended to draw
out the thematic linkages between them while, at the same time, highlighting the dif-
ferences and tensions in the ways they deal with their material. And, although the
thematic series arcs, broadly, from the legacy of Manfredo Tafuri, to the issue of auto-
nomy, to considerations of activism, to the productivity of the gap between critical
writing and architectural practice, this is only to scratch the surface: much else – as will
be seen – is covered along the way.
