Image, Text, Architecture

Published by Ashgate, Robin Wilson’s new book Image, Text, Architecture brings a radical and detailed analysis of the architectural media, addressing issues of architectural criticism, architectural photography and the role of journal editors.

Applying a theoretical method of ‘utopic critique’ developed from the work of Louis Marin and Fredric Jameson, it covers examples as diverse as an article by British artist Paul Nash in The Architectural Review, 1940, a project by French architects Lacaton & Vassal published in the journal 2G, 2001, and the photography of Hisao Suzuki for the Spanish journal El Croquis. The purpose of this enquiry is to highlight moments where a different type of critical voice emerges on the architectural journal page, indicating the possibility of a more progressive engagement with the media as a platform for critical thinking about architecture, and to rethink the journals’ role within architectural history.

Robin Wilson works at the intersection of architecture and art through the writing of criticism and theory, curatorship and collaborative practice. He teaches history and theory of architecture at The Bartlett School of Architecture.

Ashgate website