Radical Pedagogies documents the experimental architecture education programs of the post–World War II era that actively dismantled modernist, colonial, and disciplinary orthodoxies — recovering histories that shaped practice even as they were shut down or absorbed.
About This Book
In the decades following World War II, a generation of educators and students refused architecture's established terms. They decentred building, reimagined the architect's social role, and built participatory models of practice from scratch. Many of these programs were eventually terminated or assimilated into the mainstream — yet their influence on architectural discourse proved lasting. This book reconstructs those experiments with scholarly rigour, examining not only their founding ambitions but also their dissolution and afterlives. It is essential reading for anyone interested in architectural education, decolonisation, disability and access, gender in the built environment, and the political dimensions of design pedagogy.
Key Features
- 415 pages of edited essays, historical documentation, and case studies across post-war experimental programs
- Edited by Beatriz Colomina, Ignacio G. Galán, Evangelos Kotsioris, and Anna-Maria Meister
- Notable case studies include: Bauhaus pedagogy adapted for decolonisation in Africa; the University of California, Berkeley's design-for-disability movement; a support network for women in the built environment; and an alternative Soviet design studio countering functionalist orthodoxy
- Published by MIT Press, ISBN: 9780262543385
What You'll Discover
- How Bauhaus pedagogy was redeployed as a tool of unlearning within the specific conditions of decolonisation across Africa
- The student and faculty movement at UC Berkeley that pushed architecture to reckon with disability and design for every body
- The formation of a cross-disciplinary support network for women engaged with the built environment, independent of academic gatekeeping
- How a Soviet design studio carved out space for an alternative to the dominant functionalist approach — and what happened when institutional tolerance ran out
About the Author
[Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 415
- Dimensions: 175 x 245 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780262543385
- Publisher: MIT Press
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects, educators, and researchers with an interest in architectural history, design pedagogy, decolonisation, and the political conditions that shape how architecture is taught and practised.