Architects, historians, and theorists have had a weird obsession with fascist architecture since postmodernism. Why? And who are the antifascist architects? What does antifascist architecture look like? Antifascist Architecture is the first attempt at creating a working definition of antifascist architecture after academia has spent decades fetishizing fascist architecture.
Brilliant scholarship has of course been presented about anti-colonial architecture, liberation architecture, and so forth. Yet antifascist architecture is an avenue that remains to be explored. This book does just that, offering a kaleidoscopic, peripatetic bricolage of architects who heroically aligned themselves with antifascist struggles, buildings made in the name of antifascism, and a call to arms for antifascist utopian futures. It is written for students and practitioners of architecture, but also activists and scholars in the social sciences who are interested in antifascist history, theory, and practice.
During this program, author Andrew Santa Lucia discussed key aspects of their book and ongoing research. Chicago design journalist and critic Zach Mortice moderated a conversation with Andrew following the presentation.
“The fact that the architects profiled are not widely taught is pedagogical malpractice, especially at a moment when the affordability and housing crises are creating public demand for more radical design and policy changes from their architectural successors. What emerges is a clear and inspirational survey, and these lessons are powerful guardrails against the nihilism and hopelessness that comes from not knowing the history and victories of past struggles.”
—Zach Mortice, The Architect’s Newspaper
→ Antifascist Architecture (Park Book, 2026).
A limited number of copies were available for purchase during the event.
“This deeply thoughtful and well-researched examination of antifascist architecture couldn’t be published at a more relevant time. The proactive territories it explores include defeating the roots of power-driven systems of oppression; how liberated social, psychological, and administrative visions can succeed; what is required of scholars and theorists for enduring opposition to fascist manifestos; and more. It’s an important book and I highly recommend it for a global readership.”
—James Wines, SITE
EVENT PHOTOS
Andrew Santa Lucia, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia and Zach Mortice, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia and Zach Mortice, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia and Zach Mortice, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
Andrew Santa Lucia and Zach Mortice, Antifascist Architecture book launch, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Julie Michiels.
