ABSTRACT
This chapter spells out Latour’s critique of modernity and discusses the key concepts of ‘modern’, ‘modernisation’ and ‘modernity’ as terms that traditionally suggest a sharp contrast with an archaic and continuous past. It presents Latour’s provocative argument that ‘we have never been modern’ and outlines the fundamental uncertainty in the way we understand ourselves as moderns. This becomes especially clear when we are in the midst of a practice, whether it is the making of an artefact or an experiment. Through a range of architectural examples, the chapter illustrates how in many contemporary situations of urban disputes, but also in most ‘modern’ architectural practices, we encounter hybrids. It also outlines the principle of symmetry advocating that nature and culture should be treated symmetrically and details the promises of symmetrical anthropology. In addition, it discusses the ‘nonmodern constitution’ and what ‘nonmodern’ could mean in architecture and for architects (based on a dialogue between Latour and Koolhaas). The chapter draws primarily on Latour’s seminal book We Have Never Been Modern (1993).
