‘Critical Architecture’ was a conference held in November 2005 at The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. The conference was part funded by the British Academy and part funded by The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, organised by Jane Rendell and Jonathan Hill of the Bartlett, and was held in association with AHRA (Architectural Humanities Research Association) represented by Murray Fraser of the University of Westminster and Mark Dorrian of the University of Edinburgh.

‘Critical Architecture’ aimed to examine the relationship between critical practice in architectural design and architectural criticism. The intention was to place architecture in an interdisciplinary context, and to investigate the relationship between theory and practice, by exploring architectural criticism as a form of practice and considering the different modes of critical practice in architectural design: buildings, drawings and texts. The thirty nine speakers, including Andrew Benjamin, Howard Caygill, Philippe Rahm of Décosterd & Rahm, Kim Dovey, Steve McAdam of fluid architects, Hal Foster, Patrick Keiller, Sharon Kivland, Hilde Heynen, Ben Nicholson, Eyal Weisman, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects came from theory and practice, from inside and outside architecture and from twelve different countries.

The project has been the subject of reviews and commentary in ARQ, by Prof Peter Carl, Brian Hatton, Dr. Felipe Hernandez, Prof David Leatherbarrow. Dr Peg Rawes.

Associated publications include Jane Rendell (ed.) Critical Architecture, special issue of the Journal of Architecture, (June 2005), v. 10. n. 3 and Jane Rendell, Jonathan Hill, Murray Fraser and Mark Dorrian (eds.) Critical Architecture, (London: Routledge, forthcoming 2007).

http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture/events/conferences/critical.htm