Architecture Follows Fish: An Amphibious History of the North Atlantic maps a history of architectural practice through the lens of fisheries — tracing how the extraction of marine species has shaped buildings, settlements, and landscapes across continents and centuries.
About This Book
What does architecture look like when fish, rather than patrons or programmes, are its primary driver? André Tavares coins the term “fishing architecture” to describe the built environments that fisheries generate — not as backdrop, but as direct consequence. Set in the North Atlantic, the book moves between continents, centuries, and species to establish the structural relationship between marine ecology and architectural practice. Where histories of marine environments have tended to focus on water ecosystems in isolation, Tavares builds a bridge between sea and land, situating urban growth and terrestrial landscapes within the logic of fish extraction. A counterpart to histories written around meat, timber, and oil — and long overdue.
Key Features
- 288 pages of articulated historical narrative supported by a wealth of iconography
- Written by author and architect André Tavares
- Published by The MIT Press, ISBN 9780262049108
What You’ll Discover
- The concept of “fishing architecture” — built environments directly spawned by the logic and infrastructure of fisheries
- How marine ecology has shaped architectural practice across different continents, centuries, and species in the North Atlantic
- A counternarrative to conventional histories of marine environments, which tend to privilege water ecosystems over the terrestrial landscapes they generate
- The relationship between fish extraction, urban growth, and the formation of coastal and inland landscapes
About the Author
André Tavares is an author and architect whose work engages the intersection of architectural history and the material industries that produce built environments. In Architecture Follows Fish, he brings that lens to bear on the North Atlantic fishing industry, constructing a cross-continental, multi-century narrative from the perspective of a species rather than a discipline.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 288
- Dimensions: 15.24 x 25.4 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780262049108
- Publisher: The MIT Press
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and historians interested in the environmental and industrial forces that shape the built world; researchers working at the intersection of landscape, ecology, and architectural history; readers drawn to unconventional historiographies of the North Atlantic.