(Un)Common Precedents in Architectural Design
Federica Goffi editor Isabel Potworowski editor Kristin Washco editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publishing:22nd Dec '25
£39.99
This title is due to be published on 22nd December, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
(Un)Common Precedents in Architectural Design calls for an attentive examination of the uncommon that inspires creativity, prompting a re-examination of both common and marginalised precedents. Precedents and their origins can be idiosyncratic, and it is not surprising that they often lead to unpredictable outcomes. The uncommon is explored as an undervalued, unregulated, and informal approach to precedents, acknowledging a radical imagination in architectural design that extends beyond visual and typological considerations, expanding the field of influence beyond buildings to investigate interdisciplinary exchanges and a multisensory imagination. This book addresses a critical need to re-examine architectural precedents, understanding why, how, and what we study to reveal the intentions, transmedia explorations, and referents behind the workings of a more inclusive architectural imagination nurtured in multicultural practices and teaching environments. (Un)Common Precedents thus underlines the non-conformity and inordinance of precedents and the necessity of their divergence, drawing attention to different socio-political contexts that resist, reject, and replace the canonisation of precedents based on dominant ocular-centric approaches with local, experiential, transdisciplinary, and uncommon ones. The book offers an alternative to the compulsion to normalise, universalise, repeat, restate, and re-enact, transforming the documentation of far-removed precedents through first-person experiences.
“Inclusive and playful, meticulous and thoughtful, the essays of this long-needed book liberate designers in their pursuit of architectural inspiration. Gems lurking in unexpected places—dismissed for years—are brought brilliantly to the fore by an impressive group of contributing authors. (Un)common Precedents will fast become a classic.”
Dr. ir. Angeliki Sioli, Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft.
“Architectural imagination is an open search. This collection navigates new paths of inquiry, leading architects to an expanded repertoire of knowledge and inspiration. From fields of music, literature, gastronomy and Indigenous engagement, uncommon precedents appear as cunning protagonists in an architectural story ever unfolding. Be prepared to rethink the exemplary.”
Lisa Landrum, Professor and Chair, Department of Architectural Science, TMU. Co-editor, Theatres of Architectural Imagination.
"What inspires architectural ideas and designs? This resourceful book provides many ingenious answers, valuable for students, practitioners, and scholars alike. Reaching far beyond traditional typology like J.N.L. Durand’s imposition of a grid to regularize all architectural history, (Un)common Precedents explores alternative contemporary and historical approaches that open and examine possibilities in media, materials, spatial justice, environmentalism and much more across the arts to inform the architectural imagination."
Paul Emmons, Patrick and Nancy Lathrop Professor of Architecture, Virginia Tech.
ISBN: 9781032823102
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
362 pages