The author looks at architecture from a care perspective: the perspective of a psychoanalyst listening to a patient sitting on the couch. By investigating the state of contemporary architecture starting from its pathologies, the essays explore historical elements that affected the development of architecture in order to understand what kind of impact they are having on its present state. Without making a diagnosis, nor suggesting a therapy, the publication dives into some of the recognisable afflictions of the discipline. Thus, instead of criticizing “world-saving” architectural projects that end up making things worse by legitimising the system wherein they operate, we get to look at them from the perspective of guilt, tearing architecture apart for its complicity with the system. And the much criticized system of architecture biennials, which generate new paradigms that aim to make a clean break from the past every other day, are analysed through the generalized phenomenon of amnesia. With a look that is neither complacent nor judgemental, this analysis offers a deeper understanding of the profession, the only possible starting point to develop with it a caring relationship.
— Chiara Dorbolò, Curator of the Architecture Book Fair 2021
