Architecture manifests as a space of concealment and unconcealment, lethe and alêtheia, enclosure and disclosure, where its making and agency are both hidden and revealed. With an urgency to amplify narratives that are overlooked, silenced and unacknowledged in and by architectural spaces, histories and theories, this book contends the need for a critical study of hiding in the context of architectural processes. It urges the understanding of inherent opportunities, power structures and covert strategies, whether socio-cultural, geo-political, environmental or economic, as they are related to their hidescapes—the constructed landscapes of our built environments participating in the architectures of hiding.

 

Looking at and beyond the intentions and agency that architects possess, architectural spaces lend themselves as apparatuses for various forms of hiding and un(hiding). The examples explored in this book and the creative works presented in the interviews enclosed in the interludes of this publication cover a broad range of geographic and cultural contexts, discursively disclosing hidden aspects of architectural meaning. The book investigates the imaginative intrigue of concealing and revealing in design processes, along with moral responsibilities and ethical dilemmas inherent in crafting concealment through the making and reception of architecture.

​

REVIEWS:

​

"This volume performs a masterful reveal of architecture’s masked motives and methods. Its elegant structure presents remarkably rich and diverse insights into architecture’s invisible agencies." – Leslie Van Duzer, Professor of Architecture, University of British Columbia.

 

"The editors have assembled a wide-ranging cast of scholars to account for the unaccounted. Aggregating terms with a family resemblance to the gerund “hiding”—from camouflage to clutter, violence to veils—the authors discuss how buildings and builders actively occlude their own political, physical, and cultural orders. Interested in post-truth history and criticism of the built world? Then this is a book for you." – David Theodore, McGill University.

 

“At a time of greater enforcement of data protection principles for the personal information of individuals, this invaluable book delves into an essential topic: understanding the dynamics, the imaginative possibilities, the moral dilemmas and ethical responsibilities of concealment and revealment in architecture, its histories, theories, power structures and overlooked narratives.” – Sophia Psarra, Professor of Architecture and Spatial Design, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.

​

Contributors:

​

Monica Eileen Patterson I François Sabourin I Bertrand Rougier I Ryan Stec I Jodi La Coe I Marcia Feuerstein I Jenan Ghazal I Menna Agha I Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou I Ramon Rispoli I Dora Vanette I Samira Daneshvar I Heather Leier I Eliyahu Keller I Ying Zhou I Anwar Jaber I Ashley Mason I Paul Emmons I Rebecca Williamson I Claudio Sgarbi I Zenovia Toloudi I Louise Pelletier I Stefaan Vervoort I Teminioluwa Thomas I Jeffrey Kruth I Allison Schifani I Kristin Washco I Linda Heinrich I Hala Barakat I Don Hunze