science

Sociology of architecture

Sociology of architecture is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sociology of architecture rather than just read about it. In short: Sociology of architecture is the sociological study of the built environment and the role and occupation of architects in modern societies. Architecture basically consists of the aesthetic, the engineering and the social aspects.

Key takeaways

Sociology of architecture belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sociology of architecture to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sociology of architecture from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sociology of architecture is the sociological study of the built environment and the role and occupation of architects in modern societies. Architecture basically consists of the aesthetic, the engineering and the social aspects. The built environment which is made up of designed spaces and the activities of people are inter-related and inseparable. It is for us to understand this interrelationship and put it down appropriately on paper. Social institutions are many and these social institutions sometimes need functional spaces to allow the people using the building to benefit from all aspects of both, the purpose of what inhabits the building and by the varied structure and organized flow of communication. The way the buildings are designed to fulfill the needs of these social institutions /social requirements can be said to be the compliance of social aspects in architecture.

Cultural sociology Architecture is the visual shape ("Gestalt") of society, and within that, all the various building types (architecture of consumption, of mobility, of the political and religious, as well as factories, prisons, cinema buildings, etc.) could become objects of architectural sociology. For example: how a specific architecture 'expresses' the structure and principles of a given society.

Classical sociology of architecture Such sociological analysis of architecture can be found in the classic authors of sociology in Marcel Mauss, Walter Benjamin, Norbert Elias, Michel Foucault, Ernst Bloch, Siegfried Kracauer, Pierre Bourdieu, Maurice Halbwachs, Karel Teige and others.

Sociology of architectonic artifacts The sociology of technology offers approaches to a sociology of (architectonic) artifacts. Initially, this sociology is interested in technical matters. While buildings (as art and technic) are not in the core of this discipline. The perspective of architecture as artifact would be the question of 'interactions' between architecture and subject: how a very specific architecture suggests certain ways, movements, perceptions.

Urban sociology and sociology of space The term "social space" is used by Pierre Bourdieu and others (in contrast to architecture or built environment) in a more abstract sense: as social constituted spatial structures. Georg Simmel founded such a sociology of space and always watched the architecture of society. Simmel unfolded also an urban sociology (his articles were read in Chicago school): in his question of the specific ways of life in big cities ("Big cities and life of spirit", 1903). Urban sociology primarily deals with social structures within the city: their points are for instance processes of segregation, urbanization and the decline of cities. Recently, there is a research focus on "differences of cities", which will be more associated with a sociology of architecture. Ronald Daus is introducing new concepts in this area, studying the history of extra-European Megacities.

See also Urban vitality

References

General Paul Jones, The Sociology of Architecture: Constructing Identities, Liverpool University Press 2010 (in print). Leslie Sklair, "The Icon Project: Architecture, Cities, and Capitalist Globalization", Oxford University Press, New York, 2017. Heike Delitz, Gebaute Gesellschaft. Architektur als Medium des Sozialen, Frankfurt/M., New York 2010. Heike Delitz, Architektursoziologie. Reihe Einsichten. Themen der Soziologie, Bielefeld 2009. Joachim Fischer/Heike Delitz (eds.), Die Architektur der Gesellschaft. Theorien für die Architektursoziologie, Bielefeld: transcript 2009. Olivier Chadoin, Etre architecte: les vertus de l'indétermination - de la sociologie d'une profession à la sociologie du travail professionnel, Presses Universitaires de Limoges, 2007. Heike Delitz, Die Architektur der Gesellschaft. Architektur und Architekturtheorie im Blick der Soziologie, in: Wolkenkuckucksheim - Cloud-Cuckoo-Land - Vozdushnyi zamok. Internationale ZS für Theorie und Wissenschaft der Architektur, 10. Jg. H. 1 (Sept. 2006): »From Outer Space: Architekturtheorie außerhalb der Disziplin« (http://www.tu-cottbus.de/BTU/Fak2/TheoArch/Wolke/deu/Themen/051/Delitz/delitz.htm). Herbert Schubert, Empirische Architektursoziologie, in: Die alte Stadt 1/2005, 1-27 Joachim Fischer/ Michael Makropoulos (Hg.), Potsdamer Platz. Soziologische Theorien zu einem Ort der Moderne, München 2004 Bernhard Schäfers, Architektursoziologie, Opladen (Leske + Budrich) 2003 ISBN 3-8252-8254-6 Gieryn, Thomas: What Buildings do, in: Theory and Society 31 (2002), 35–74 Guy Ankerl, Experimental Sociology of Architecture. A Guide to Theory, Research and Literature, Mouton de Gruyter Publ. (The Hague, Paris, New York) p. 549, 1983 ISBN 90-279-3440-1 (paper) Hardcover ISBN 90-279-3219-0. Anthony D. King (ed.), Buildings and Society: Essays on the Social Development of the Built Environment, London 1980 Robert Gutman, "Architecture from the Outside In: Selected Essays by Robert Gutman (ed. Dana Cuff, John Wriedt), Princeton Architectural Press, 2010. "People and Buildings" (ed. Robert Gutman, Nathan Glazer), Transaction Publishers, 2009. "Architectural Practice: A Critical View," Princeton Architectural Press; 5th edition, 1997. www.architektur-soziologie.de task force Sociology of architecture in the German Sociological Association Espaces et Sociétés « Sociologie et architecture: matériau pour une comparaison européenne », Olivier Chadoin et Viviane Claude (Coord), n°142, juin 2010. Chadoin Olivier, « Le sociologue chez les architectes – Matériau pour une sociologie de la sociologie en situation ancillaire », Sociétés contemporaines, n°3/75, 2009. Chadoin Olivier, "Sociologie de l'architecture et des architectes", Marseille, Editions Parnthèses, 2021.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sociology of architecture

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sociology of architecture claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sociology of architecture before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sociology of architecture ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sociology of architecture

In research: Sociology of architecture appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sociology of architecture in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sociology of architecture is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Environmental design, Environmental sociology, Subfields of sociology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sociology of architecture outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sociology of architecture in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sociology of architecture means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Sociology of architecture in simple terms?

Why does Sociology of architecture matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sociology of architecture?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sociology of architecture.