1st Edition

Towards a Dialogical History of Modern Architecture Essays on Otherness and Canon

By Jorge Francisco Liernur Copyright 2025
240 Pages 40 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

240 Pages 40 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

240 Pages 40 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

The book challenges three perspectives on the modern architectural canon: explanations that disregard impacts and effects beyond the North Atlantic (monologic), superficial modifications that simply add "Other" figures to the canon, and views that reject the canon itself. Instead, it recognizes the canon's significance in comprehending architecture, while seeking to uncover its presumed... Read more

1. Preliminary Words: Introduction to the Book  2. Essay 1: Otherness and Canon  3. Essay 2: Controversial Positions: The Center–Periphery Tension in the Work of Manfredo Tafuri  4. Essay 3: Orientalism and Modern Architecture: The Debate on the Flat Roof  5. Essay 4: The Grand Move: How the Smithsons Contributed to the Restoration of Western Europe’s Cultural Centrality (1945–1956)

Biography

Jorge Francisco Liernur, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1946, is an architect. He graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and pursued postgraduate studies with Manfredo Tafuri at Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia and Tilmann Buddensieg at the University of Bonn's Institute of Art History. Liernur holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Universidad del Litoral (Argentina). He was the founding dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Studies at Torcuato Di Tella University, where he is currently an emeritus professor and the director of the Master's in History and Criticism of Architecture. Liernur has extensively published on the history of architecture in Argentina and Latin America, exploring their connections with international architecture in books and specialized journals. He co-curated the exhibition "Latin America in Construction: 1955–1980" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and has been a visiting professor in various universities globally, spanning America, Europe, and Asia.