Building Sites addresses the urgent need to advance the critical understanding of relations between architectural design and the labour of building. While recognising that in many parts of the world building takes place through self-organised processes and traditional skills, the book questions a central and problematic omission in architectural discourse, education and practice – the production of buildings and the erasure of construction labour entailed by that omission. Through its engagement with the groundbreaking work of the architect and theorist Sérgio Ferro, who developed a history of architecture 'seen from the building site', the book sets out a programme for a new field of Production Studies for architecture and other disciplines.

First, the field requires careful research into the production of the built environment – at the construction site, in the factory, in the design office and beyond. This volume explores historical and contemporary cases from Brazil, the UK, Yugoslavia, Germany, India, Mexico and the USA. Second, the book asks why the disciplinary silencing of production prevails. In Ferro's view, the tendency of architectural discourse to ignore issues of labour and processes of construction is no mere oversight but rather a structural necessity for maintaining the profession's capacity to act 'on' and 'over' the building site, a necessity arising organically from the development of capitalism. Turning also to Morris, Harvey, Chakrabarty and Malm, the collection provides the first sustained English-language engagement with Ferro's theories and critiques. Chapters on radical pedagogies, unions and political alliances, and alternative forms of building take the third step – to respond to contemporary crises. Production Studies must mobilise its understanding to seek alternatives and work towards change.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.

No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.

Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete

Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.

Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.

We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.

Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.

Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.

Yes, you can access Building Sites by Matt Davies,Will Thomson,Katie Lloyd Thomas,João Marcos de Almeida Lopes in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Architecture & Architecture General. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.