Dialectical Materialism and the Alternative Architecture of John F.C. Turner

Abstract

This chapter seeks to highlight and discuss Henri Lefebvre’s spatial contextualization of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ methodology of dialectical materialism. The external and relational act of developing identity through mediation with context and content is discussed and pursued in light of its relevance to a contemporary globalised context and spatial practice. The translation of Lefebvre’s discourse within contemporary architecture remains highly abstracted as the political implications are counter to the prevalent capitalist model of architecture in the Western world as a product and object. The spatial practices and subsequent discourse of John F.C. Turner are proposed as a detailed exploration of the same dialectic methodology. The practice of developmental architecture suggests a form of subaltern praxis, based on a spatial and materialist critique of social, political and economic context, and provide a concrete realisation of a counter-narrative to contemporary architectural practice and globalised abstract space.