ABSTRACT
The role of architecture vis-à-vis society has been intensely contested since the emergence of ‘the social’ as a specic category in the nineteenth century. That architecture represents society in diverse manners; that architecture is created, to a certain degree, by forces external to it such as technology, economics, or politics, is rarely questioned. Yet the extent to which these external forces leave their mark on the completed building has often been debated, and the idea that architecture, architectural design or the building are not merely passive, formed by society, but rather a participatory force in creating or shaping society has been ercely contested, and, more often than not, rejected.
