Transgression in the Architectures of After-Modernity: A Paradigm at Work in Times of Crises - Softcover

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Carmen Popescu is professor of architectural history at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris Val-de-Seine.

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In architecture, transgressive acts have always been a reality, in spite of rules and canons that have defined the discipline and its extended field. However, in recent decades, their frequency and radicality have surged from rather random, marginal and/or idiosyncratic phenomena. While their sudden rise can be explained as a reaction to the compulsive normativity of modernity, the deeper roots are to be sought elsewhere: the recent waves of transgressiveness are intimately linked to the hypercrisis affecting our world today – spanning ecological, political, economic, and social dimensions, and catalysing fundamental mutations and disorders. Some of these transgressive acts are motivated by a desire to dismantle a malfunctioning system, but more often than not breaking the rules has become an inherent survival tactic amid urgent social challenges. In our era of after-modernity, transgression emerges not just as an act of defiance, but reveals a new paradigm at work – a critical framework for reimagining the built environment, challenging established orders, and advocating for the rights of marginalised populations. Drawing on a rich array of theoretical insights and empirical case studies from multiple countries, this volume provides a unique, forward-looking perspective on transgressive acts in architecture as responses to today’s ecological, political, economic, and social crises.

Carmen Popescu is professor of architectural history at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris Val-de-Seine.