Modernity and Architecture

Framing

This debate concerns architecture's relationship to modernity. Latour argues "we have never been modern" — modernity's purification work (separating nature from culture) always produced hybrids. Benjamin affirms modernism's progressive potential while maintaining dialectical appreciation.

Positions

Position A: We Have Never Been Modern (Latour)

Latour argues modernity requires constant purification work, but this produces hybrids that undermine the modern constitution. Acknowledging hybridizations means we stop being modern.
Key texts: yaneva-latour-for-architects

Position B: Modernism as Progress (Benjamin)

Benjamin affirms modernism's progressive social potential, particularly the shift from dwelling to housing. Modern architecture is both material-functional and symbolic-utopian.
Key texts: elliott-benjamin-for-architects

Key Texts

• yaneva-latour-for-architects — Latour's critique of modernity
• elliott-benjamin-for-architects — Benjamin's dialectical modernism