The Daniels Faculty’s Jason Nguyen has co-edited a special Journal of Architecture issue centred on the theme of “un-making architecture.”

The special issue, which he co-edited with Elizabeth J. Petcu of the Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh, “surveys the concept of ‘un-making’ as an overarching facet of architectural thinking and production that has yet to be considered at a synoptic scale.”

The co-editors define un-making in this context as “the actions that result in the dismantling of architectural forms, modes of thought and means of production.” 

A historical study of these operations, they hope, “might generate necessary theoretical frameworks to conceptualize transformations in architecture amid today’s unprecedented socio-political and environmental challenges.”

The aim of the special issue, which was released in June, is twofold, Nguyen and Petcu write in their introduction. “First, it brings into dialogue topics from across different periods and geographies that explore varied yet related notions of un-making.” Second, “it introduces a range of theoretical approaches to analyze architectural disassembly that might further conversations and actions to reimagine the discourses, institutions and practices in the field today.”

Among the scholars who have contributed articles to the issue are Victoria Adonna of McGill University, Matthew Mullane of Radboud University, Eliyahu Keller of the Negev School of Architecture, Ana María León of Harvard University and Delia Duong Ba Wendel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

To access the issue—Volume 28, Number 2 of The Journal of Architecture—click here.

Homepage and banner image, courtesy of AFP/Getty Images, offers a view of Dresden Frauenkirche (1726-1743, rebuilt 1994-2005) in 1952. The church was destroyed during World War II.