ROBERT GUTMAN 1926-2007

摘要

For both architecture and sociology, the latter half of the 1960s was a turning point, certainly in the UK. The idea that the architectural profession was principally an instrument for delivering the built fabric of the Welfare State was becoming anachronistic. Architects were seeking new dimensions of freedom and self-expression. Meanwhile the social sciences were becoming even more politicised, but in a much less consensual, more confrontational way. The notion that the chief utility of the social sciences was to determine what society needed from government was increasingly implausible. Bob's paper, 'The Questions Architects Ask', written when he was at University College London, captures the aspirations and uncertainties of that time of transition. It is as wise and relevant today as it was in 1966 (when I first met him), exploring the relationship between architecture and the social sciences and also, I now realise, raising even more fundamental questions about the nature of architectural knowledge.