Accessibility navigation


‘Endless forms, vistas and hues’: why architects should read science fiction

Butt, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1762-2768 (2018) ‘Endless forms, vistas and hues’: why architects should read science fiction. Architectural Research Quarterly, 22 (2). pp. 151-160. ISSN 1359-1355

[img]
Preview
Text - Accepted Version
· Please see our End User Agreement before downloading.

508kB

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

To link to this item DOI: 10.1017/S1359135518000374

Abstract/Summary

Most of an architect's life is concerned with that which has not yet taken place, both foreseeing the near future and expressing an intention of how this future world should be remade. However small the intervention, all design proposals are utopian works. With this in mind, this article is a celebration of the utopian potential of reading science fiction (SF); to make the familiar strange, to reveal fears about the future, to confront us with ourselves, and to shape the world we inhabit. It is an unabashed call from an architect and avid SF reader for architects to raid the bookshelves, find the most lurid cover and glaring font and lose themselves in the exuberant worlds of science fiction.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Science > School of the Built Environment > Architecture
Science > School of the Built Environment > Urban Living group
ID Code:79072
Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation