ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part considers how work with no critical intent by the maker, that transcends any conscious act of criticality, and is intended to be nothing more than an outcome of commercial pressures or for financial gains, can be critiqued. It explores the 'iconic' architecture industry and proposes that through subliminal narratives projected by the digital image today, the public is subjected to and learns about the values and iconography of modernity and capitalism. The part explores the relevance of concepts of 'surface' to architectural theory with the aim to broaden our understanding of the relation between surface and space as a new site of architecture's criticality. It argues for a repositioning of the post-critical and a rediscovery of aesthetic intentionality in architecture.
