Following on from the publication of Reification and Representation: Architecture in the Politico-Media-Complex Dr Graham Cairns is guest editing a special issue of the journal Architecture_MPS on the relationship between architecture, urban planning, social policy political image making.

The theme picks up on those set out in Reification and Representation with the following provocation:

The relationship between politics and the public relations industry is controversial and, at times, polemic. However, one component of this relationship that has yet to be investigated is the role of architecture and the built environment. Seen in this light, what we define as 'political' in the built environment needs a major reconfiguration. This special issue of Architecture_MPS and the book it is based upon, suggest it is not only a question of constructed buildings but equally a case of mediated imagery.

While Reification and Representation: Architecture in the Politico-Media-Complex uses case studies from the political campaigns of Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, David Cameron, this special issue seeks to widen the geographical context of the study and welcomes international examples from both recent and historical contexts. 

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• For more information on submission details of the Special Issue, contact [email protected]
• Architecture_MPS, ISSN 2050-9006 is published by UCL Press.
• Reification and Representation: Architecture in the Politico-Media-Complex is published by Routledge