Filosofische analyse van het zelfconcept van de Zwitsers-Franse architect (1887-1965), herwaardering van zijn motieven als stadsplanoloog en nieuwe inzichten met betrekking tot zijn intellectuele relaties met andere leden van de avantgarde van de twintigste eeuw.

The idea that buildings could be used to reform human behaviour and improve society was fundamental to the 'modernist' architecture and planning of people like Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and José Luis Sert in the first half of the 20th century. Their proposals for functional zoning, multi-level transport, high-rise living, and machine-inspired aesthetics came under attack from the 1950s onwards, and many alternative approaches to architecture and planning emerged. It was thought that the environmental determinist strand of the discourse was killed off at this time as well. 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. By looking at - and interviewing - major figures and movements of recent years in Britain, Europe and America, including Léon Krier, Peter Eisenman, Andrés Duany, Jane Jacobs, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, it demonstrates the myriad ways that architect-planners seek to shape human behaviour through buildings. In doing so, the book raises awareness of this strand within the discourse and examines its different purposes and manifestations. It questions whether it is an ineradicable and beneficial part of architecture and planning, or a regrettable throwback to a more authoritarian phase, discusses why is it seldom acknowledged directly and whether it could be handled more responsibly and with greater understanding. Richards does not provide any simple solutions but in conclusion, is critical of architect-planners who abuse the rhetoric of social reform simply to leverage their attempts to secure building commissions, while being more sympathetic towards those who appear to have a sincere desire to improve society through their buildings.

When the fortunate among us feel very sick, we visit a doctor. If we are lucky, they will decide that the ailment is curable and issue us with a prescription. For some tablets, perhaps. Or something simpler, like rest. More often than not the problem goes away. Our planet is sick, according to the scientists of the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their prescription to humanity is clear: we must arrest the rising temperature of Earth’s surface, by reducing the concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. The symptoms won’t clear up unless we act, and even then there will likely be lasting effects. In Prescriptions for the Climate Crisis, Simon Richards looks at the impacts of how we move around, power our lives, shelter, and consume, and prescribes possible solutions to lessen the Climate Crisis. Rather than dwelling on doom and gloom, he suggests pragmatic ideas for individuals and governments in an accesible style.