Innovation
In what is arguably a most crucial time for discourse around issues that are concerned with the political, institutional, and social shape of worlds to come, Innovation In Practice In Theory: Positioning Architectural Design and Its Agency explores the agency of the project of architecture and its processes of innovation by constructing an opportunistic and contingent map of effectual positions.
The book is built around two sets of questions. The first set of questions concerns itself with the distinction between built objects and actions as the focus of observation, and as objects that are susceptible to innovating, or being innovated. The second set of questions concerns itself with the understanding of the relationship between theory and practice and is defined by two positions. One that looks to theory as a result of practice, another that looks to practice as subsequent to theory. These two axes are used to locate and compare different positions, thus allowing the readers to construct their own readings of what it means to innovate the project of architecture.
Valeria Federighi is an architect and assistant professor at the Department of Architecture and Design of Politecnico di Torino. Her research work focuses on analyzing mechanisms of innovation in architecture as expanding practice. Elena Todella is an architect and a post-doc research fellow at Politecnico di Torino. Her research activities concern complex urban and architectural transformations, by focusing on both architectural design and decision-making processes.
Caterina Quaglio is an architect and a research fellow at the Politecnico di Torino. Her research work focuses on policies and practices of urban regeneration of public housing districts. Andrea Alberto Dutto is an architect and research associate at the Chair of Architecture Theory of the RWTH Aachen University. His research focus concerns encyclopedism, handbooks, dictionaries, and diagrams employed in the making of architecture.
Daniele Campobenedetto is an architect and an assistant professor in architectural and urban design at the Department of Architecture and Design of Politecnico di Torino. His research activities especially investigate urban transformation and urban design in European cities, focusing on architectural typologies and urban rules. Caterina Barioglio is an architect and an assistant professor at the Department of Architecture and Design of Politecnico di Torino. Bridging history and design, her research relates to urban regeneration processes and urban design, with a main focus on building typologies and the effects of urban rules on the city form.
