If--then

the long version

"With new visions for architectural invention that challenge social and political assumptions, If ... Then explores whether speculative work can generate a concrete imprint on social reality. Since architecture serves as a means of manifesting the collective aspirations of community - providing symbols of cultural value and housing cultural production - can innovation in site, program, form, technology, and materials advance the community fabric? If ... Then showcases six young firms whose work seeks to transform the urban and suburban experience, adapting and reimagining new relationships and social structures within the framework of the built environment - manipulating the boundaries between fiction and construction."--Jacket.