ARCHITECTURE, THEORY and CRITICISM summary TEXTS

ARCHITECTURE & THEORY summary TEXTS
I made this summary of the key texts per theme/lecture. I learn best by writing and explaining
things to myself, so this is what came out of that process. I just finished the exam and noticed
that it’s really important to grasp the core of each text while also being able to connect them
within their themes and across a broader historical context.

UNDERSTANDING and RELATING to projects is what really matters.




Lectures:

ACCELERATION 1972 in “Limits to growth” by Club de Rome

COMMONS 1961 in ‘The death and life of American cities” by Jane Jacobs

PARTICIPATION 1969 in “Architecture’s Public” by Giancarlo de Carlo

CRITICAL REGIONALISM 1983 in “Towards A Critical Regionalism” by Kenneth Frampton

TRANSFORMATION 1989 in “Umbau” by Herman Czech

HOUSING 2025 in “The Lost Living Room” by charlotte grace

BEAUTY 2025 in “The Problem Of Beauty In Architecture” by Nele de Readt en Maarten Delbeke

CHAOS 2025 in “Darling Springs” by Luc Deleu

TRANSPORT 2025 in “How Much Does Your Road Weigh?” by Nelo Magelhaes.

MATERIALS 2025 in “Break The Cycle” by Michael Gyhoot & Tom Schoonjans

NATURE 2025 in “ Learning Differently From Nature” by Antoine Picon

, 1. ACCELERATION 1972 in “Limits to growth” by Club de Rome

Published in 1972, The Limits to Growth emerged at a moment when the postwar belief in
unlimited progress, industrial expansion, and technological optimism was beginning to fracture.
Using system-dynamics models, the report examined the evolution and cumulative impact of
human activity on Earth, linking population growth, resource extraction, industrial production,
pollution, and food supply into a single global system. Its warning was clear: continued
acceleration along existing trajectories would push the planet toward an irreversible tipping
point.

The book formulated three main conclusions: first, societies must adapt to the real, finite
conditions of the planet, acknowledging ecological limits rather than relying on abstract ideals
of growth; second, this adaptation must occur rapidly and collectively, as isolated or delayed
responses would be insufficient; and third, long-term survival requires a transition toward a
sustainable ecology and a balanced economy, in which development is measured by
resilience and well-being rather than expansion alone.




2. COMMONS 1961 in ‘The death and life of American cities” by Jane Jacobs

Published in 1961, The Death and Life of Great American Cities appeared at a critical moment in
postwar urban history, when large-scale urban renewal, highway construction, and functionalist
zoning were radically reshaping American cities. Jane Jacobs’ book offered a powerful critique of
orthodox urban planning and modernist principles that treated the city as a technical problem to
be solved through abstraction, separation of functions, and top-down control. In this sense, the
book is often read as a direct challenge to modernism’s urban ideals and to the authority of
planners who claimed universal solutions for complex social environments.

Jacobs argued instead for a planning approach grounded in the observation of real, lived
cities. Through close readings of streets, sidewalks, neighborhoods, and everyday social
interactions, she demonstrated that urban vitality emerges from density, diversity, mixed uses,
and informal networks of care and surveillance—what she famously described as “eyes on the
street.” Her work reframed the city as a living, adaptive, and interconnected system, rather
than a mere aggregation of buildings, inhabitants, or economic flows.