Lacan + Architecture

This book seeks to revise and revive architectural theory through psychoanalysis as well as to apply psychoanalytic theory to architecture. Its authors argue for Lacans central importance for a comprehensive theory of building and suggest how architectural theory might offer new resources for psychoanalytic theorists. They address both the perceived crisis in the contemporary state of architecture and architectural theory and crises in society at large, including political and economic fracture and instability and threats to mental health and well-being. It offers fresh insights to architects, architectural educators and practitioners, scholars of psychoanalysis, and anyone interested in the human condition in relation to the built environment. This book has been awarded the 2025 Architectural Theory Book of the Year.

John Shannon Hendrix is Professor of Art and Architectural History at Cummings School of Architecture, Roger Williams University, United States. He is the author and editor of numerous articles and books including Architecture and the Unconscious (2016, with Lorens Eyan Holm) and Architecture and Psychoanalysis (2006). Francesco Proto is Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Oxford Brookes University, UK. He is the author of numerous articles and books including Baudrillard for Architects (2019).