References conveying a meeting between practice and theory:  ​

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2.1 Ecologies of urban gardening, 2022
An artistic research project and doctoral thesis at NTNU by Bjørn Inge Melås. 

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The project identified five key themes that emerged through the exploration of urban gardening, each offering insights into the practice and its broader implications. He describes how “urban gardening can transform a space and its people to become more diverse and related this to Guattari’s term heterogenesis – the production of diversity, which is a counterforce to the capitalist homogenization of the world and the human subjectivity” (Melås, 2022, p. 515). The experience of urban gardening not only enriches the visual and sensory aspects of an urban space but also fosters a deeper connection between people and their environment. Moreover, the slow, deliberate process of building and nurturing soil contrasts sharply with the rapid, profit-driven pace of capitalist production, offering a critique of how time is valued and used in different economic systems. Melås collects thoughts and ideas on how urban gardening can be a place for meeting and connecting – on a physical spatial level and on a metaphorical level describing the coming together of design with ecological, social and political perspectives. 

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2.2 Ein Kleines Haus
(Petite villa au bord du lac Léman, 1923) by Le Corbusier, published as a book in 1954.

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The epilogue of the book, written by Guillemette Morel Journel and titled “The Life of a Famous Small House”, emphasises Le Corbusier’s role of being both designer and author of the small house. In 1954, Le Corbusier wished to dedicate one of his smallest books, “Une petite maison”, to one of his smallest buildings. Over the years, the architect analysed the design development, the construction site, the function, and the spatial disposition of the house - and ultimately its “life”. 

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Journel argues that Le Corbusier thus took on a reciprocal position, a mise en abyme, a self-referentiality between author (of the text) and designer (of the architecture). The author becomes an exegete, an interpreter, of the work of the designer – eventually mirroring himself in himself. “As both an exegete and theorist, the representations of his own buildings provided him with the opportunity to formulate and illustrate the various elements of his doctrine” (Journel, 2020). 

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2.3 Everything is Architecture 

by Hans Hollein, 1968. In his work Alles ist Architektur (Everything is Architecture), Hans Hollein wrote something on the meaning of architecture, that I like to recall. To me these words show facettes of the intricate connection between theory and practice. 

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“Architektur ist kultisch, sie ist Mal, Symbol, Zeichen, Expression.
Architektur ist Kontrolle der Körperwärme – schützende Behausung.
Architektur ist Bestimmung – Festlegung – des Raumes, Umwelt.
Architektur ist Konditionierung eines psychologischen Zustandes.” 

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“Architecture is cultic, it is mark, symbol, sign, expression. Architecture is the control of body heat – protective dwelling. Architecture is the determination/decision – definition – of space, environment. Architecture is the conditioning of a psychological state.” – own translation 

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2.4 The Eyes of the Skin
by Juhani Pallasmaa, 1996, discussed in Method 

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2.5 Thinking Architecture and Atmospheres
by Peter Zumthor, both 2006, discussed in Method 

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2.6 Om bygningskulturens transformation
by Christoffer Harlang (Editor) and Albert Algreen-Petersen (Author and editor)