ARCHITECTURE, THEORY AND CRITICISM Dr. Ir. Architect Véronique Patteeuw
ARCHITECTURE THEORY CRITICISM
ARCHITECTURE IN THE AGE OF ACCELERATION
KULEUVEN – 2023-24
Apollo 8, NASA, Earthrise, 1968
Teacher: Dr. Ir. Architect Véronique Patteeuw
Email:
Timing:
GENT: Maandag 09h30-13h00
BRUSSEL: Dinsdag 13h30h-16h30
Location:
BRUSSEL: STLP 00.AU01 (Paleizenstraat)
GENT: SLGD 00.A4 (Alexianenplein)
1
,ARCHITECTURE, THEORY AND CRITICISM Dr. Ir. Architect Véronique Patteeuw
1. SYNOPSIS
In 1972, the Club of Rome, an international group of academics, businessmen, diplomats and
business leaders deeply concerned about living conditions on planet Earth, published the report The
Limits to Growth1. Based on computer simulations - a new technology at the time - the report
studied the combined behaviour of a range of factors threatening human society on Earth:
exponential population growth, agricultural production, the depletion of non-renewable resources,
industrial production and pollution. The researchers' conclusions were terrifying: if no changes were
made to historical growth trends, the threats to the Earth's habitability would become evident
during the 21st century, leading to a sudden and uncontrollable decline in human societies. In 1972,
the trends could nevertheless be modified so as to establish a condition of sustainable ecological
and economic stability in the distant future. But humanity had - according to the researchers - to
strive very quickly to achieve global equilibrium: "This supreme effort is a challenge for our
generation. It cannot be passed on to the next generation".
Hailed by the press as "one of the most important documents of our time", the report has been a
huge success, with no fewer than 3 million copies sold worldwide, 30 different language editions
published, 12,000 copies sent to heads of state and several revisions and updates published since
1972 (notably in 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2022). It has also attracted a great deal of criticism and
rejection, with some calling the book "an empty and misleading work" or "a work ready for the
dustbin".
Fifty years after the publication of the Club of Rome’s report, the book remains extremely topical.
Over the past five decades, research has shown that the report provides a remarkably accurate
overview of the global distress we face today. For, despite the efforts made since 1972 to achieve
sustainable development, our world has progressed roughly along the lines described in the report.
Architecture has not been neutral in this: it has facilitated and stimulated economic growth while
contributing to an ever-growing human footprint, exponential carbon emissions, resource extraction
and loss of biodiversity.
While the world of construction reacts to the current crises essentially from the perspective of
sustainable development, a number of engaged intellectuals recommends the inevitable and radical
change of our ways of living and inhabiting the world. Indeed, since the early eighties theoreticians
such as Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, Bruno Latour, Isabelle Stengers, Rosi Braidoti and many others
have critically questioned and thematised our age of acceleration arguing for degrowth, third spaces,
circular economies and Gaia. Their observations often call for a transversal approach, across
disciplinary and policy boundaries. Although architecture is not central to these writings, their
observations shift our ways of understanding and designing space. Where can we find proper
architectural responses to the current condition? Should we refrain from building or can we think of
valid alternatives to be explored? Are the answers necessarily to be found outside the architectural
field? Or, on the contrary, can architectural history and theory offer new perspectives?
The publication of The Limits to Growth corresponded to a moment of crisis of the Modern project.
In 1972, part of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing complex was demolished, symbolizing, for some,
the death of Modern Architecture. The following year, most Western countries were hit by the first
oil shock. And a few years after that, French philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard published The
1
The Limits to Growth (LTG) is a report published in 1972 and authored by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers and
William W. Behrens III, representing a team of 17 researchers. The report commented on the exponential economic and population growth
with a finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. It was commissioned by the Club of Rome, a NGO formed by current and
former heads of state, UN administrators, high-level politicians and government officials, diplomats, scientists, economists, and business
leaders from around the globe. Since its publication, the report was translated in 30 languages and sold some 30 million copies around the
world.
2
, ARCHITECTURE, THEORY AND CRITICISM Dr. Ir. Architect Véronique Patteeuw
Postmodern Condition (1979), a report on Knowledge in which he diagnosed the end of meta-
narratives. This lecture-course looks at the postmodern period - a period of crisis of the modern
project - in order to find the theoretical lenses through which we can look at contemporary
architecture.
2. METHODOLOGY
This course considers the systemic challenges posed by the continued climate crisis, rapid
urbanization and globalization, as well as the threat of collapsing eco-systems as the starting point
for theoretical reflection on architectural design today. But, instead of searching for answers outside
the discipline, it stays as close as possible to architecture itself. In other words, an underlying point
of this course is the conviction that the discipline already offers a rich field of knowledge on which to
build possible answers to the current crises.
In the course, we examine six strategies, including: acceleration, participation, critical regionalism,
commons, transformation and resilience. In doing so, we primarily explore the historical anchoring
of these strategies in the post-war period. Each strategy is linked to a key text from the period 1961-
1995 and testifies to the political and social context in which architects contested, contradicted,
explored or explored alternatives to their role. We also reread these texts in relation to current
challenges and examine their relevance for contemporary architectural practice. After all, the
strategies emerged as alternatives to modernisation. How can they be deployed in design today? In
other words, this course offers both historical continuities and new insights for contemporary design
in an age of acceleration.
The changed perspective on fundamental aspects of technology and culture which is the result of a
growing acknowledgment of the finite nature of global resources is also reflected in the rediscovery
and rereading of authors. These texts will be analysed, situated and most importantly debated with
the students, in relation to current architectural practices. Therefore, going beyond mere critical re-
readings of the recent past, this course proposes to open up a discussion on the relevance of these
strategies for today’s practice vis-à-vis conditions of acceleration.
3. OBJECTIVES AND EVALUATION
Objectives
- know how to detect, describe and thematise a design position
- reflecting on one's own thinking and working process
- critically explore the prevailing paradigms
- following up and incorporating current developments in the discipline
- make an original contribution to the development of theory
- translating theoretical positions into visual contributions
Evaluation
This course will be assessed by
- a continuous evaluation during the semester
- a written examination during the examination period
3
ARCHITECTURE THEORY CRITICISM
ARCHITECTURE IN THE AGE OF ACCELERATION
KULEUVEN – 2023-24
Apollo 8, NASA, Earthrise, 1968
Teacher: Dr. Ir. Architect Véronique Patteeuw
Email:
Timing:
GENT: Maandag 09h30-13h00
BRUSSEL: Dinsdag 13h30h-16h30
Location:
BRUSSEL: STLP 00.AU01 (Paleizenstraat)
GENT: SLGD 00.A4 (Alexianenplein)
1
,ARCHITECTURE, THEORY AND CRITICISM Dr. Ir. Architect Véronique Patteeuw
1. SYNOPSIS
In 1972, the Club of Rome, an international group of academics, businessmen, diplomats and
business leaders deeply concerned about living conditions on planet Earth, published the report The
Limits to Growth1. Based on computer simulations - a new technology at the time - the report
studied the combined behaviour of a range of factors threatening human society on Earth:
exponential population growth, agricultural production, the depletion of non-renewable resources,
industrial production and pollution. The researchers' conclusions were terrifying: if no changes were
made to historical growth trends, the threats to the Earth's habitability would become evident
during the 21st century, leading to a sudden and uncontrollable decline in human societies. In 1972,
the trends could nevertheless be modified so as to establish a condition of sustainable ecological
and economic stability in the distant future. But humanity had - according to the researchers - to
strive very quickly to achieve global equilibrium: "This supreme effort is a challenge for our
generation. It cannot be passed on to the next generation".
Hailed by the press as "one of the most important documents of our time", the report has been a
huge success, with no fewer than 3 million copies sold worldwide, 30 different language editions
published, 12,000 copies sent to heads of state and several revisions and updates published since
1972 (notably in 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2022). It has also attracted a great deal of criticism and
rejection, with some calling the book "an empty and misleading work" or "a work ready for the
dustbin".
Fifty years after the publication of the Club of Rome’s report, the book remains extremely topical.
Over the past five decades, research has shown that the report provides a remarkably accurate
overview of the global distress we face today. For, despite the efforts made since 1972 to achieve
sustainable development, our world has progressed roughly along the lines described in the report.
Architecture has not been neutral in this: it has facilitated and stimulated economic growth while
contributing to an ever-growing human footprint, exponential carbon emissions, resource extraction
and loss of biodiversity.
While the world of construction reacts to the current crises essentially from the perspective of
sustainable development, a number of engaged intellectuals recommends the inevitable and radical
change of our ways of living and inhabiting the world. Indeed, since the early eighties theoreticians
such as Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, Bruno Latour, Isabelle Stengers, Rosi Braidoti and many others
have critically questioned and thematised our age of acceleration arguing for degrowth, third spaces,
circular economies and Gaia. Their observations often call for a transversal approach, across
disciplinary and policy boundaries. Although architecture is not central to these writings, their
observations shift our ways of understanding and designing space. Where can we find proper
architectural responses to the current condition? Should we refrain from building or can we think of
valid alternatives to be explored? Are the answers necessarily to be found outside the architectural
field? Or, on the contrary, can architectural history and theory offer new perspectives?
The publication of The Limits to Growth corresponded to a moment of crisis of the Modern project.
In 1972, part of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing complex was demolished, symbolizing, for some,
the death of Modern Architecture. The following year, most Western countries were hit by the first
oil shock. And a few years after that, French philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard published The
1
The Limits to Growth (LTG) is a report published in 1972 and authored by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers and
William W. Behrens III, representing a team of 17 researchers. The report commented on the exponential economic and population growth
with a finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. It was commissioned by the Club of Rome, a NGO formed by current and
former heads of state, UN administrators, high-level politicians and government officials, diplomats, scientists, economists, and business
leaders from around the globe. Since its publication, the report was translated in 30 languages and sold some 30 million copies around the
world.
2
, ARCHITECTURE, THEORY AND CRITICISM Dr. Ir. Architect Véronique Patteeuw
Postmodern Condition (1979), a report on Knowledge in which he diagnosed the end of meta-
narratives. This lecture-course looks at the postmodern period - a period of crisis of the modern
project - in order to find the theoretical lenses through which we can look at contemporary
architecture.
2. METHODOLOGY
This course considers the systemic challenges posed by the continued climate crisis, rapid
urbanization and globalization, as well as the threat of collapsing eco-systems as the starting point
for theoretical reflection on architectural design today. But, instead of searching for answers outside
the discipline, it stays as close as possible to architecture itself. In other words, an underlying point
of this course is the conviction that the discipline already offers a rich field of knowledge on which to
build possible answers to the current crises.
In the course, we examine six strategies, including: acceleration, participation, critical regionalism,
commons, transformation and resilience. In doing so, we primarily explore the historical anchoring
of these strategies in the post-war period. Each strategy is linked to a key text from the period 1961-
1995 and testifies to the political and social context in which architects contested, contradicted,
explored or explored alternatives to their role. We also reread these texts in relation to current
challenges and examine their relevance for contemporary architectural practice. After all, the
strategies emerged as alternatives to modernisation. How can they be deployed in design today? In
other words, this course offers both historical continuities and new insights for contemporary design
in an age of acceleration.
The changed perspective on fundamental aspects of technology and culture which is the result of a
growing acknowledgment of the finite nature of global resources is also reflected in the rediscovery
and rereading of authors. These texts will be analysed, situated and most importantly debated with
the students, in relation to current architectural practices. Therefore, going beyond mere critical re-
readings of the recent past, this course proposes to open up a discussion on the relevance of these
strategies for today’s practice vis-à-vis conditions of acceleration.
3. OBJECTIVES AND EVALUATION
Objectives
- know how to detect, describe and thematise a design position
- reflecting on one's own thinking and working process
- critically explore the prevailing paradigms
- following up and incorporating current developments in the discipline
- make an original contribution to the development of theory
- translating theoretical positions into visual contributions
Evaluation
This course will be assessed by
- a continuous evaluation during the semester
- a written examination during the examination period
3
