The sure signs of a revolution are walls being scaled, squares occupied and doors kicked in. But what part does architecture play in the success or failure of these social movements?

In Philosophy of Architecture, Ludger Schwarte interrogates the ability of architecture to dictate political life, both individual and societal. Starting with the observation that the French Revolution took place on streets and in squares that were not even 100 years old – and that the revolutionary masses couldn't have assembled without theses public spaces – this book describes the performative force of architecture. Schwarte traces the development of architectural thought within the history of philosophy and confronts this with detailed analyses of the materiality of public spaces in 18th-century Paris and an examination of its various facets, façades and foundations through relevant theories of power. Reaching beyond aesthetics, ethics and technical concerns, he shows architecture not just as an instrument of discipline or the pinnacle of human control of the environment, but as a potentially liberatory force.

Philosophy of Architecture focuses on the architectural conditions of radical democracy: which spatial arrangements determine what can take place and whose voice counts? Which spaces allow for the assemblies and political interventions on which democracy can hinge? What happens when we stop seeing architecture as a technology of power and start seeing it as a force that enables collective action and new forms of political life?