After the World Trade Center : architecture at the crossroads

Abstract

This article addresses important insights concerning architecture on the part of the philosopher Karsten Harries, as well as issues raised by various contributors in a recent book on the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Focusing at length on some of the most important of these contributions, it sets out to analyse and elaborate on them in a broader framework, namely what one may learn from these attacks about architecture, particularly concerning its representational function, and more generally regarding its ethical, social and political implications.