Beauty in Architecture

Perspectives from Theory and Practice

By: Nele De Raedt (Editor), Maarten Delbeke (Editor)

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eBook | 18 September 2025

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Beauty in Architecture brings together the views of architects, artists, critics, historians, and philosophers to explore how beauty can again become an integral part of discussions about architecture.

Despite its recent resurgence in the public debate about the built environment, the notion of beauty remains problematic and contested in critical discourse about architecture. When the topic is addressed, it is either treated with suspicion, historicized or contextualised, or substituted with other -often equally problematic- terms, such as order, legibility, atmosphere, or character. This collection brings together voices from theory, scholarship, and practice to show that a conversation about beauty in architecture is necessary, not only because the general public speaks easily and frequently about beauty in architecture, but also because much can be gained from taking it seriously.

Bringing together a diverse range of perspectives, the essays reflect on the themes, categories, and concepts that should be part of such a conversation and show how talking about beauty engages important reflections on its ontology and what it involves: values, communities, collectives and shared histories, environment, identity, and political or legal mechanisms and institutions. A must read for designers and theorists alike, this volume allows readers to discover new strategies and concepts to foster the discussion of beauty in architecture.