Speaking of buildings : oral history in architectural research / Janina Gosseye, Naomi Stead, and Deborah van der Plaat, editors.

First edition.

New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2019.

319 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

By and large, architectural historians use texts, drawings, and photographs to craft their narratives. Oral testimony from those who actually occupy or construct buildings is rarely taken as seriously. 'Speaking of Buildings' offers a rebuttal, theorizing the radical potential of a methodology that has historically been cast as unreliable. Essays by an international group of scholars look at varied topics, from the role of gossip in undermining masculine narratives in architecture to workers' accounts of building with cement in midcentury London to a sound art piece created by oral testimonies from Los Angeles public housing residents. In sum, the authors call for a renewed form of listening to enrich our understanding of what buildings are, what they do, and what they mean to people.

English

January 16, 2020

Includes bibliographical references and index.