Affective Architecture: Encountering Care in Built Environments

Abstract

Between sprawling urban spheres and a return to the rural, between technological advancements and historical preservation, built environments become a productive sphere to explore imaginations of a shared future on a changing planet. At the same time, contemporary architectural writing appears to increasingly extend further than considering environmental care – particularly in relation to spaces and places frequently criticized for their ‘uncaring’ neoliberal politics. This article will argue that architecture is increasingly infused and saturated with affective connotations of care. Approaching global examples critically allows for a further exploration of the interdependency between spaces, places and communities that care. In this understanding, care becomes, quite literally, structural.