Introduction to ‘Specifically architectural theory’

A rich and unique representation of the discourse that argues for the essentiality of seeing architecture as both science and art, ‘Specifically architectural theory’, published in the Harvard Architectural Review in 1993, is a key text underpropped by empirical investigation and following several decades of experimentation in spatial analysis. It captures Hillier’s positional blend of theory and action pertinent to the understanding of spatiality and cultural meaning as they relate to buildings and urban environments, and the society within which they exist.

This article establishes a distinct line of enquiry, it moves from problematisation, to conceptualisation, to operationalisation in a lucid logical manner while utilising key examples of the work of Modernists including Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier. How does this manifest? Clearly, the argument is put forward as the case for a theory specific to architecture, one that emanates from within it, rather than being transposed from another field of enquiry or area of knowledge and then applied to it.