Overview

Architecture, Theology, and Ethics: Making Architectural Design More Just argues that architecture, design, and creativity are theological-ethical concerns that ought to be considered more deeply by Christians who are committed to social and environmental justice. Elise M. Edwards discusses the significance of architectural design, entering into ongoing conversations in theological ethics and aesthetics. She argues that architectural design is not just a professional practice for wealthy clients, but rather an activity that everyday people undertake when making choices that shape the spaces they inhabit. If Christians think theologically about their agency in these decisions, they will discover that architectural design becomes an opportunity to contribute to the flourishing for humanity and God’s creation. Edwards proposes an approach to architectural design that presents it as prophetic action with the power to shape our world. This book then presents five moral commitments that guide design intentions and the process of design towards justice and inclusion. Grounded in liberationist, feminist, and womanist thought, Architecture, Theology, and Ethics makes a compelling case for architecture’s relevance to Christian ethics and theology.

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9781498573290

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Reviews

Elise Edwards's Architecture, Theology, and Ethics is groundbreaking. Here for the first time, we have a black feminist ethicist trained in Architecture, Christian Ethics, and Theology articulating what architectural practice rooted in a moral and liberative vision looks like. For the first time, we could sit architectural students, theology students, art students, and students concerned with black life in the same classroom and offer them a text to think together about our work, our world, and the possibilities of a shared project of building life. This is a generational text. --Willie James Jennings, Yale University

Bridging her training as an architect with the task of ethics, Edwards invites the reader to consider the moral meaning and value of our built environment. Too seldom do we consider the ethics of design and how it can contribute to the well-being of the human community. This book is a beautiful reminder of the central role that aesthetics can and should play in helping us shape a more just and sustainable world. --Rebecca Todd Peters, Elon University This exciting interdisciplinary work by a Black feminist scholar and registered architect will expand the reader's understanding of the ethical dimensions of the built environment. As Edwards extends liberationist thinking by approaching architectural design through it, we readers will come to learn how architectural design can advance or thwart the values of justice, creativity, empathy, discernment, beauty, and sustainability. This book is a must-read for anyone curious about those questions. --Grace Yia-Hei Kao, Claremont School of Theology Elise Edwards's Architecture, Theology, and Ethics is groundbreaking. Here for the first time, we have a black feminist ethicist trained in Architecture, Christian Ethics, and Theology articulating what architectural practice rooted in a moral and liberative vision looks like. For the first time, we could sit architectural students, theology students, art students, and students concerned with black life in the same classroom and offer them a text to think together about our work, our world, and the possibilities of a shared project of building life. This is a generational text. --Willie James Jennings, Yale University

Author Information

Elise M. Edwards is assistant professor of religion at Baylor University and a registered architect.

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