Lacan for Architects

Jacques Lacan's impact on intellectual culture in the twentieth century has been profound, and yet his rather baroque style of exposition, his penchant for involution, has limited his impact on other discourses. This text makes his work on the nature of the 'speaking subject' available to architects, and puts it in the context of contemporary architectural thought and practice, including the issues of urbanisation and the environment that face architects today.

This book provides a concise and clearly written introduction to psychoanalytic thought for architects. It uses Lacan to develop the concepts of the spatial subject and spatial desire and is essential reading for anyone interested in the role that human nature plays in architecture and the city.