CARTHA - Building Identity: A Handbook for Architectural Design

Explores the role of architecture in forming identity in society through interviews with renowned scholars and a set of projects by international firms especially designed for this book.

In their new book, the international CARTHA network engages with the question of forming identity in society and the role that architecture plays in this process. Inspired by Jacques Lacan's psychoanalytical approach, CARTHA's members break down identity formation into four processes, which they explore in interviews. Maarten Delbeke, professor of history and theory of architecture at ETH Zurich, talks about assimilation, while Frederike Lausch, a researcher at TU Darmstadt's Department of Architecture, discusses appropriation. Rob Krier, a Berlin- and Liguria-based architect and sculptor examines denial, and Jonathan Sergison, a London-based architect, reflects on reconciliation.

Together, these conversations set the overall conceptual frame for a new, speculative design methodology, which is put to test by international architecture firms: Made In (Switzerland), Sam Jacob Studio (Britain), Monadnock (Netherlands), Bruther (France / Switzerland), Bureau Spectacular (USA), Conen Sigl (Switzerland), and Studio Muoto (France) have been invited to submit a design for a new dwelling, drawing from projects inserted in their own conceptual, social, and physical contexts. CARTHA--Building Identities is a handbook for architectural design, beautifully illustrated through plans, sections, montages, and texts.