Tectonic Affects in Contemporary Architecture

Tectonics is an old, ontological concept which simultaneously claims to cover the aesthetics/meaning and the technological/technical in architecture. However, since the advent of ‘modernity’, the relationship between architecture and building technology has been problematic. Some of these problems, which are reflected in the theories of architecture and tectonics, relate to the separation of the technology/technical dimension from the aesthetic/artistic, rendering one of them dominant over the other.

This book explores the tectonic affects in architecture because these do not separate building technology and aesthetics or meaning. Affects are preconscious aesthetic feelings which can cause meanings if we start thinking about these affects. The book claims that tectonic affects can generate aesthetic value and meaning. It adopts a practical position towards architectural aesthetics and meaning, and concentrates on tectonic affects.