Polemics and reflections on how to bridge the gap between what architecture actually is and what architects want it to be.
Architecture depends—on what? On people, time, politics, ethics, mess: the real world. Architecture, Jeremy Till argues with conviction in this engaging, sometimes pugnacious book, cannot help itself; it is dependent for its very existence on things outside itself. Despite the claims of autonomy, purity, and control that architects like to make about their practice, architecture is buffeted by uncertainty and contingency. Circumstances invariably intervene to upset the architect's best-laid plans—at every stage in the process, from design through construction to occupancy. Architects, however, tend to deny this, fearing contingency and preferring to pursue perfection. With Architecture Depends, architect and critic Jeremy Till offers a proposal for rescuing architects from themselves: a way to bridge the gap between what architecture actually is and what architects want it to be. Mixing anecdote, design, social theory, and personal experience, Till's writing is always accessible, moving freely between high and low registers, much like his suggestions for architecture itself.
"A provocative declaration of war on utopia, powered by a fuel rich in social justice and sharp humor. Architects, hide it from your clients and your students - it is an unusual and explosive mixture that produces difficult questions like spores. With this book Jeremy Till raises the starting price on all our discussions of architecture." - Paul Shepheard --author of What is Architecture? and Artificial Love
"This excellent book contains something of a contradiction. Written with vim and humour it is essentially a call for a contingent architecture, which responds to the demands of reality rather than imposing an order on it...Till's book is about the world he knows and how one conveys the ideas behind architecture. It is a superbly written, frequently fascinating set of arguments that will support architects who wish to use the messy stuff of life for their own advantage." - Tim Abrahams --Blueprint Magazine
"Jeremy Till's Architecture Depends is an attempt to save the profession from itself and a manifesto for an architecture that acknowledges its relationship with the world and its duty to others...In a manner generally unbeknown to architects, for whom a state of artificial objectivity is all-important, Till separates out stories of his life as a teacher of architecture sometimes they made me clap my hands with glee. I particularly loved these bits, finding myself turning between the pages to find out more...This is a brave, enjoyable, affirming and important book and I actually felt sad to have finished it." - Flora Samuel --Times Higher Education magazine
