Economy and Architecture

<p><em>Economy and Architecture</em> addresses a timely critical and much-debated topic in both its historical and contemporary dimensions. From the Apple Store in New York City to the street markets of the Pan American Highway; from commercial Dubai to the public schools of Australia this book takes a critical look at contemporary architecture from across the globe whilst extending its range back in history as far as the Homeric epics of ancient Greece. </p><p>The book addresses the challenges of practicing architecture within the strictures of contemporary economies grounded on the fundamental definition of ‘economy’ as the well managed household – derived from the Greek <i>oikonomia</i> – <i>oikos</i> (house) and <i>nemein</i> (manage). The diverse enquiries of the study are structured around the following key questions: </p><ul> <p> </p> <li>How do we define our economies? </li> <p> </p> <li>How are the values of architecture negotiated among the various actors involved? </li> <p> </p> <li>How do we manage the production of a good architecture within any particular system? </li> <p> </p> <li>How does political economy frame and influence architecture? </li> </ul><p>The majority of examples are taken from current or recent architectural practice; historical examples which include John Evelyn’s villa Blenheim Palace John Ruskin’s Venice and early twentieth century Paris place the debates within an extended critical perspective.</p>