Architecture for Culture - by Béatrice Grenier (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Architects rethink and reinterpret one of the most important and innovative typologies of recent decades: the museum.

Museums are flourishing across the globe: in recent decades, no other architectural form has witnessed such remarkable growth and diversification. In an era when the digital revolution enables us to preserve our shared memory and artistic heritage without the constraints of physical space, this phenomenon might seem like an unnecessary indulgence.

Yet, by examining new icons and rereading historical examples, Architecture for Culture shows why museums remain essential. They serve as the repositories for the encyclopedia of 21st-century knowledge, help make our cities legible and ensure that art remains a vibrant presence in the spaces where we live. The museum is revealed as a venue where architecture refines its discourse on method, identity, and urban context; it is also a dynamic laboratory for the continuous development of a new cultural policy--one that must address itself to a planetary audience.

Review Quotes

"The author does not question the necessity of museums today, but she does think "too little critical attention has been given to the role and agency of architecture in defining its new forms." More than merely a depot for storing and displaying art or other artifacts, Grenier sees the museum "as an incubator and laboratory of urban culture." Across nine "The Museum Is ______" chapters, Grenier explores how the role of museums is changing. What might resemble a survey of contemporary museum architecture at first flip, the book is more accurately nine critical essays that discuss museums--both new and old ones, as well places that usually existing outside of what readers might consider museums--in terms of agency and impact more than space and function." -- A WEEKLY DOSE OF ARCHITECTURE BOOKS (JOHN HILL)

About the Author

Béatrice Grenier is a curator, writer and editor who is working at the intersection of global contemporary architecture and art. She is the Director of Strategic Projects and International Programs at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain.