Soules, Matthew
Soules, Matthew
Bio Sketch
Matthew Soules is a scholar-practitioner and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, as well as founder-director of Matthew Soules Architecture. His research examines how the siting, form, materiality and use of buildings "dialectically materialize human values" — and, in particular, how contemporary architecture and housing have been reshaped by finance capitalism.
Key Works
- Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra Thin: Architecture and Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021) — argues contemporary buildings are "spatio-financial constructs," analysing architecture as a vehicle of financialization.
Key Concepts
Concepts associated with this author that have pages in this wiki:
Relevance to Geoffrey's Research
Soules is a key recent voice in Geoffrey's neoliberalism, finance & the city area. His five characteristics of "finance capitalist architecture" (instability, speculative wealth storage, inequality, iconic-plus-standardized, liquidity) and his account of how "de-socialized" ultra-thin towers and rendering-as-finance-technology serve financialization complement the critiques of Bismarck (architectural object), Harvey, and Spencer.
Source Support
Source notes in this wiki drawn from this author's work:
- Architecture and Capital in the 21st Century: An Interview with Matthew Soules (2022)
- Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago (Willis 1995) — a foundational account of the built environment as a "spatio-financial" product driven by finance and real estate