Practice Turn in Architecture: Brussels after 1968

Isabelle Doucet is a lecturer at the University of Manchester, Manchester Architecture Research Centre. She is the co-editor of Transdisciplinary Knowledge Production in Architecture and Urbanism (Springer, 2011).

'This book is three things in one: it is an important book about recent urban developments in Brussels, it offers an insightful reflection on the issue of criticality in architecture, and it contains an exciting exploration of innovative methods that investigate how architecture, the city and its inhabitants intertwine. It is amazing in its multilayeredness and richness - a must-read for anyone interested in either Brussels, criticality or methodology, a real gem for those who hold all three of these topics dear.' Hilde Heynen, University of Leuven, Belgium‘Why are some books in architecture and theory such a drag to read, whilst others are so fluent, such a pleasure to read? Part of the answer is that the author has to be well informed about recent critical debates and at the same time close to their ‘object’, the daily and often mundane practices that make architecture and the city. This is especially true for Isabelle Doucet’s, The Practice Turn in Architecture: Brussels after 1968. Like many of her generation, Doucet is critical of the authority allocated to architectural theory, which is where her "practice turn" comes in, informed by Isabelle Stengers, but also the socio-technological and economic changes that affected the profession. Doucet’s book is a critical exploration through practice, of concrete instances of engagement, drawing upon cases taken from Brussels. No doubt belonging to the ‘older’ generation of critical thinkers in architecture, I can only produce a very respectful nod to Doucet: her work is critical, outstanding, accessible, and a pleasure to read.’ Arie Graafland, Professor Emeritus, Department of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands'Isabelle Doucet calls to include in architectural thinking also those actors that are often considered as trivial because they are not professional, not productive, or small. Whilst one may be sceptical as to whether such approach is suitable for realising the 21st Century metropolis, it remains important to highlight these slow and invisible processes and the book succeeds in exposing their indirect and long-term impact on the Brussels complexity.' Charlotte Lheureux in: A+ Architecture in Belgium‘Doucet brings together a pragmatic approach with a critical orientation, a double move that requires great intellectual deftness… In Doucet's argument Brussels also unfurls as a screen against which can be projected debates that depict disciplinary disagreements in architectural culture and discourse from the United States to Europe, the UK and Australia.’Hélène Frichot, review in Architectural Research Quarterly ‘The book is characterized by a detailed agenda for architecture after the critical reappraisal of architectural debates from the Sixties through to the Nineties. Brussels, thanks to the masterful guide of Doucet to the city, is an excuse to explore the radical connection between philosophy, architecture and social progress.’ Leonardo Caffo review in Ardeth

• 1. Introduction: The City as Practice 2. Counter-Projects 3. Interstitial Activism 4. Participatory Challenges 5. Learning From Things 6. Unsung Heroes 7. Conclusions: Towards a Cautious Pragmatism