1、Foucault For architects From the mid-1960s onwards Michel Foucault has had a significant impact on diverse aspects of culture, knowledge and arts including architecture and its critical discourse. the implications for architecture have been wide-ranging. his archaeological and genealogical approache
2、s to knowledge have transformed architectural history and theory, while his attitude to arts and aesthetics led to a renewed focus on the avant-garde. Prepared by an architect, this book offers an excellent entry point into the remarkable work of Michel Foucault, and provides a focused introduction
3、suitable for architects, urban designers, and students of architecture. Foucaults crucial juxtaposition of space, knowledge and power has unlocked novel spatial possibilities for thinking about design in architecture and urbanism. While the philosophers ultimate attention on the issues of body and s
4、exuality has defined our understanding of the possibilities and limits of human condition and its relation to architecture. the book concentrates on a number of historical and theoretical issues often addressed by Foucault that have been grouped under the themes of archaeology, enclosure, bodies, sp
5、atiality and aesthetics in order to examine and demonstrate their relevancy for architectural knowledge, its history and its practice. Gordana Fontana-Giusti is an architect, theorist and professor of architecture at the university of Kent, uK. she has taught at the architectural association, london
6、 and conducted research at central saint Martins college, london. Fontana-Giusti is the co-author of Complete Works of Zaha Hadid 4.vols. (thames and hudson, 2004) and Scale: Imagination, Perception and Practice in Architecture (routledge, 2011).Thinkers for Architects Series Editor: Adam Sharr, New
7、castle University, UK Editorial Board Jonathan a. hale, university of Nottingham, uK hilde heynen, Ku leuven, Netherlands David leatherbarrow, university of Pennsylvania, usa architects have often looked to philosophers and theorists from beyond the discipline for design inspiration or in search of
8、a critical framework for practice. this original series offers quick, clear introductions to key thinkers who have written about architecture and whose work can yield insights for designers. Each unintimidatingly slim book makes sense of the subjects complex theories. Building Design a valuable addi
9、tion to any studio space or computer lab. Architectural Record a creditable attempt to present their subjects in a useful way. Architectural Review Deleuze and Guattari for Architects andrew Ballantyne Heidegger for Architects adam sharr Irigaray for Architects Peg rawesBhabha for Architects Felipe
10、hernndez Bourdieu for Architects helena Webster Benjamin for Architects Brian elliott Derrida for Architects richard coyne Gadamer for Architects Paul Kidder Goodman for Architects remei capdevila Werning Foucault for Architects Gordana Fontana-GiustiThis page intentionally left blankTHINKERS FOR AR
11、CHITECTS Foucault for Architects Gordana Fontana-GiustiFirst published 2013 by routledge 2 Park square, Milton Park, abingdon, oxon oX14 4rN simultaneously published in the usa and canada by routledge 711 third a venue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor Martin heidegger; luce
12、irigaray; homi Bhabha; Pierre Bourdieu; Walter Benjamin; Jacques Derrida; hans-Georg Gadamer and Michael Foucault. a number of future volumes are projected, addressing Nelson Goodman, Jean Baudrillard and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. the series continues to expand, addressing an increasingly rich diversit
13、y of contemporary thinkers who have something to say to architects. Adam Sharr is Professor of architecture at the university of Newcastle upon-tyne, Principal of adam sharr architects and editor (with richard Weston) of arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, a cambridge university Press internation
14、al architecture journal. his books published by routledge include Heidegger for Architects and Reading Architecture and Culture.xi ACknowleDgeMents Acknowledgements i am thankful to adam sharr, the series editor, for his valuable comments and suggestions, Fran Ford and Georgina Johnson for their gen
15、erous support from routledge, and to laura Williamson for her editorial assistance. i also wish to thank Marina lathouri for her support in the early stages of this proposal, Megan Kerr for her reading of the final draft and ranieri and sofia for their reading of the drafts in-between. i remain inde
16、bted to Mark cousins and the late Paul Q. hirst for their interpretations of Foucaults ideas that have informed me throughout the years and to Bernard tschumi for the discussion on events and cities in the final stages of writing this book. i am also grateful to the late Bogdan Bogdanovi who argued
17、about the importance of architectural knowledge and to the late roy landau whose masterminding of the history and theory programme at the architectural association (aa) Graduate school was essential for my studies. i have benefited from numerous students and colleagues with whom i have exchanged ide
18、as at the architectural association, central saint Martins college of arts and at the university of Kent, whose questions and interests have supported me in this project. i need to extend my gratitude to the head of Kent school of architecture Don Gray and to the Dean of humanities Karl leydecker fo
19、r the term off that helped the preparation of the initial manuscript. Illustration credits uppsala Foucault, permission copyright: association pour le centre Michel Foucault, Paris. Jackson Pollock, photograph by the author. event, photographs by the author. Madness and Civilisation, permission by t
20、he anonymous collector. Foucault et Bernard-henri lvy, photograph by Michel Boncillon, permission copyright: association pour le centre Michel Foucault, Paris.xii ACknowleDgeMents Michel Foucault lecturing, photograph by Michel Boncillon. Permission copyright: association pour le centre Michel Fouca
21、ult, Paris. Foucaults house, photograph and permission by Francesco Fontana-Giusti. Foucault several weeks before his death, photograph by Michel Boncillon. Permission copyright: association pour le centre Michel Foucault, Paris.1 IntRoDuCtIon Introduction one of the questions addressed repeatedly b
22、y the French philosopher Michel Foucault (192684) was, What is knowledge? Quest-ce que le savoir? is this question relevant for architects and if so, how? in order to comment on this and other Foucauldian enquiries of architectural significance this book asks what the position of Foucaults work is i
23、n relation to architecture, its knowledge, its design practice, its history and theory, and its criticism. the book examines Foucaults project by focusing on selected aspects of his philosophy and by commenting on the works of architectural discourse and practice that have emerged in relation to his
24、 critical history of thought. the book thus opens up a territory where Foucaults discourse and architecture intersect or emerge in parallel. Due to its concise format, the book has had to be selective from its outset. the task has not been eased by the scope and range of Foucauldian scholarship and
25、the knowledge of how Foucault marvelled in extended arguments and references collected from obscure sources. Further challenges arose as the book takes Foucaults statements out of their original context in order to cross-examine them for the benefit of architectural knowledge. this kind of intervent
26、ion could be justified by the philosophers own approach to critical activity, where concepts are seen as tools. as Foucaults notions often slide, move and develop, refusing to stay in the same fixed place, this book remains vigilant as the ground covered by the dynamism of his thought becomes itself
27、 an interesting territory for architectural discussion. this kind of thinking is part of Foucaults problem-centred discourse, which refuses to be translated safely into a set of applicable rules. Foucaults texts do not provide a solid foundation; they work as an open archaeological and genealogical
28、site where new questions and problems emerge (cousins and 2 IntRoDuCtIon houssain 1984). Foucault for Architects articulates the architecturally relevant notions and configurations that thus come to light. the attitude of constant questioning and formulation of problems has been a part of Foucaults
29、intellectual journey. throughout his career, he tried not to interpret but rather to produce commentaries through which he constantly questioned, twisted and turned his thought. By adding new theoretical propositions along the way, his thought has changed internally (During 1992: 6). this agility of
30、 thinking, which steers the space of reflection, continues to keep Foucaults work alive, original and appealing to architects among others. The attitude of constant questioning and formulation of problems has been a part of Foucaults intellectual journey. Throughout his career, he tried not to inter
31、pret but rather to produce commentaries through which he constantly questioned, twisted and turned his thought. By adding new theoretical propositions along the way, his thought has changed internally. Foucault for Architects does not seek to be biographical, although the relevance of certain places
32、 (lieux), cities and architectural settings in Foucaults life will be mentioned as a logical extension of the discussion that will provide a better understanding of spaces, arguments and thoughts. Foucaults summary of his own opus provided the initial, organisational structure for the book (Foucault
33、 1998: 45963). here he related that by thought, he meant the act that determines and positions a subject, an object and their possible relations. By critical history of thought he understood an 3 IntRoDuCtIon analysis of the conditions under which the positioning of a subject to object is formed, wh
34、en they come to constitute knowledge (1998: 462). By critical history of thought he understood an analysis of the conditions under which the positioning of a subject to object is formed, when they come to constitute knowledge. this book follows the succinct format of the books in this series. it re-
35、evaluates Foucaults discourse from a contemporary point of view by going beyond the popular perception that sees Foucaults contribution to architectural knowledge solely within the domain of the architecture of enclosures, prisons, hospitals and asylums. such interpretation would prevent us from und
36、erstanding the wider architectural implications of Foucaults project. this book thus points towards a broader spectrum of Foucaults ideas, manifested in the discussion about knowledge, archaeologies, bodies, urban space, aesthetics and spatiality. the first chapter, Positioning, addresses Foucaults
37、context by giving an outline of his contemporaries, significant events, his own position and approaches to the debates of the time. the two following chapters correspond to Foucaults two main streams of analysis. the second chapter, archaeology, addresses the conditions of the person who thinks (the
38、 knowing subject) and determines what Foucault thought the subject must be: what status he or she ought to have in order to become the legitimate subject of knowledge. this chapter relates to Foucaults Order of Things and The Archaeology of Knowledge. the examples of related architectural works are
39、dealt with in the latter part. the third chapter, enclosure, addresses the objects of knowledge by considering the conditions under which something can become an object of knowledge in particular, within the practices of psychiatry, clinical medicine and penality, where men and women have been the objects of Foucaults enquiry. the
