On Care and Architecture

This book argues that current techniques and representations of architectural practice can take on greater significance and generate a more meaningful societal and professional contribution if they are developed through a lens of care. This lens of care, however, requires a fundamental repositioning in the way architects and designers orientate themselves within each project. This book argues that this adaptation requires a genuine and deeply considered recognition of personal attitudes, approaches, and ingrained presumptions. This book advocates for self-reflection as a valuable, more conscious, and explicit component in the design process. It illustrates that greater personal and professional relationships can be formed through the acknowledgement of mutual vulnerabilities and the development of trust, respect, and appropriately placed curiosity, and that this is evident in the design delivery and ultimate construction of built space. Through an innovative methodology combining auto-ethnography and design research, this book prioritises user and architect knowledge and experience to identify, examine and discuss six key themes: care, integrity, advocacy, accountability, sensibility and sustainability. Collectively these themes contribute valuable insights into the meaningful and maintainable incorporation of lived experience into the processes of architecture. This book will be of interest to architects, researchers, and students of architecture and design, as well as healthcare professionals.

Anthony Clarke (PhD) is an Australian architect, scholar, writer, and founding director of the award-winning practice, BLOXAS - A Practice for Empathic and Experimental Architecture. Anthony's work focusses on the relationship between architecture and care, re-articulating practice through innovative and reflexive methodologies. BLOXAS and Anthony have been widely recognised both nationally and internationally through publication and public engagement. Anthony is a Dean's Visiting Professor at Columbia University - GSAPP and is an active educator at various Australian Universities including Monash University (MADA). Anthony, alongside Dr Jos Boys and Associate Professor John Gardner, were the series editors for the publication 'Neurodivergence and Architecture' published by Elsevier in 2022.

0. Introduction 1. Care 2. Integrity 3. Advocacy 4. Accountability 5. Sensibility 6. Sustainability 7. Conclusion 8. Bibliography 9. Transcriptions