Discussion of the Anthropocene, a designation invented in 2000 for the geological epoch following the Holocene to reflect the increasing human impact on the ecology of the earth, has taken many forms in the last decades. Arguments over the potential dating of this period—whether it began with the first traces of human industry, the Industrial Revolution, or the first atomic explosion—have preoccupied scientists and cultural critics. Questions persist regarding whether the period represents the initiation of a new “posthuman” epoch, one that would encourage the understanding of humankind as having reached its limits and as being embodied in the world, as opposed to separate from it. Discussion continues regarding the role and nature of architecture and urbanization in the process of transforming the earth's surface.1
The impact of these debates on the study of architectural history, however, has been less noticeable. At the 2015 meeting of the Society of...
University of California Press