Craft Theory and Contemporary Architecture

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of craft theory in relation to contemporary architecture. Craft is an old and familiar idea, but the line between craft and art or craft and mere manufacturing, for example, is notoriously hard to describe. In architecture, a similarly blurred line between the design process on one hand and the physical making of buildings on the other lies at the center of various debates about what it means to do architecture. The growth and development of craft theory in recent years suggest new insights into these architectural debates, but situating the meaning of craft within architecture within today’s technological landscape is a complex problem. Alford responds to this challenge by collecting various narratives from craft theory and other fields and discerning among them new lenses through which to view contemporary architectural practice. Episodes from this expanded view of craft in architecture go beyond predictable accounts of Ruskin and Morris to envision: new models of practice; new ways of engaging other building professionals; and new ways for architects to understand their own labor and the nature of how and what kinds of things they themselves craft. Architecture is changing and within the ongoing story of craft explored in this book are new and surprising ways to understand, design, and construct the built environment. Written for students and scholars, this book challenges and extends the legacy of craft thinking in architecture.