Architect Knows Best

The idea that buildings could be used to reform human behaviour and improve society was fundamental to the 'modern' movement in architecture and planning. However, as these approaches came under attack from the 1950s onwards, it was thought that the environmental determinist strand of the architectural discourse had been killed off. Illustrated through a series of interviews with leading contemporary architect-planners, this book argues that it was not, but on the contrary, that it has deepened and diversified. Many of the most prominent architect-planners continue to design with a view to improving the behaviour of individual people and of society at large.