The Fontanelle

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

‘The Fontanelle’ suggests that a consideration of the everyday architectural detail, not as ornament but as action, may increase the range of what architectural theory sees and thus may increase the richness of what we can imagine. Using a menu format, this essay takes its structure and lead from the address offered by Jennifer Bloomer on the occasion of the 1992 RIBA Annual Discourse. This feature (along with other moments of notional excess) was redacted from the abridged and published version of the Discourse. Seeking to redress these oversights, the essay returns them to the canon, using associated matters personal, political and professional to explore a particular architectural interface, the architrave. Though recognising and celebrating the multiplicity of this technical detail the essay shows how moments of notional mediocrity can open out into larger socio-political and ecological questions. The work of this essay, revisiting Bloomer, insists on the relevance of such technicalities, not simply as formalities to be endured but lifeworlds within which to grow.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)966-979
Number of pages14
JournalThe Journal of Architecture
Volume28
Issue number6
Early online date14 Feb 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 14 Feb 2024

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Jennifer Bloomer
  • RIBA Discourse
  • architectural detail

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