Architectural Theory and Design

Dear Colleagues,

We invite papers on the problems of theory and practice (design) in architecture. In quite a pronounced way, for architecture, education, research, and practice, theory and practice are typically opposed, much in the way that the neo-avant-garde constructs its autonomy myths by opposing drawing to building, or that phenomenologically inflected architects dissociate sociopolitical, spatiotemporal, and socioeconomic realities from design and building production to support fictions of unfallen golden ages, comprising a universal condition of ethical agency. Most dispiriting of all are the post-theory practitioners who embrace a kind of right-libertarian radical entrepreneurialism as a way of—paradoxically—theorizing design as fully liberated from ethical considerations. Papers engaging with any or all these topics by correcting, extending, or colliding them are especially welcome.

As outlined above, the issues of theory and design (or of theory and practice) could be construed as the untethering of one from the other, to the diminishment of both, or the jettisoning of theory, or its isolation from making and bodily experience. Mirroring architectural neo-avant-garde autonomy myths, theory has become less and less relevant, even more so philosophically than practically. Autonomous theory is not only split off from practice, it contributes to ideations of architecture not as just a weak discipline but as not a discipline at all, thereby contributing to dominant conceptualizations of professional (commercial) practice as the totality of architecture (as ostensibly constituting the discipline). Arguably, as architectural thinking and doing become more binary, the capacities for theory’s contribution to deepening and expanding the discipline of architecture (comprising both design theory research and professional practice, amongst other endeavors) atrophy, encouraging either a schematization of conception and execution or the exiling of theory and thought experiments in design from the main currents of architecture education and building.

While theory and practice are often touched upon in architecture research, their separation largely prevails, as if the dominance of entrepreneurialism confirms a post-theory condition. When theory and practice (design) are isolated from one another, both atrophy, encouraging recalibrations of perfection that are only confirmable when execution outstrips conception. As a countermeasure, papers are sought that problematize the divide of theory and practice from on another, and from design, by pursuing more dialectical approaches to the problem, not least by reflecting on theory as the verification of design; design as the verification of theory; construction and bodily experience of buildings as the limit test of both, either verifying or falsifying pre-construction claims. Of particular interest are papers that explore the assertion that for architecture (theory, design, practice, building) to lay claim to being a living art, conception must (verifiably) ever exceed execution.

Prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors are requested to propose an initial title and a 300–500-word abstract summarizing their anticipated contribution. Please send initial submissions to the Guest Editors (ncoleman@alumni.upenn.edu) or the Architecture Editorial Office (admsci@mdpi.com). Initial submissions will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo single-blind peer review.

Dr. Nathaniel Coleman
Dr. Ufuk Ersoy
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Architecture is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.