Animals in Modern and Postmodern Architecture

The book focuses on specific case studies from modern and postmodern architecture where animals stand out as agents that contribute to a broader political, cultural, and environmental critique.

The various entangled, convoluted animal references and representations are not only seen as products of the architectsâ sublimation but also as critical reflections of the architectsâ active civic engagement and their role in the intellectual environment of their times. Such an interpretive charting of animals in architecture comes to define an alternative, contemporary field of research for architectural history, theory and criticism, which is also in dialogue with current scholarship in the fields of animal studies, posthumanism, and environmentalism. Le Corbusierâs ravens and donkeys, Hassan Fathyâs oxen and ibises, Dimitris Pikionisâ doves and goats, Yona Friedmanâs dogs and unicorns, Superstudioâs horses and monkeys, Lina Bo Bardiâs snakes and spiders, John Hejdukâs lions and centipedes⦠Why do these animals appear and in which context? What is their latent philosophical and ideological content? In which ways do they express critical stances against modernity? How do they relate to founding myths and cultural identities? What kind of unconscious doubts, resistances and anxieties do they cover?

The book will be of interest to scholars and students of architecture and urban planning, as well as to those interested in human-animal relations in the fields of art history, history of ideas and critical theory.