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Frontiers in Art Research, 2025, 7(5); doi: 10.25236/FAR.2025.070501.

Deconstruction: Philosophy to Architecture

Author(s)

Jiahui Zhao

Corresponding Author:
Jiahui Zhao
Affiliation(s)

College of Architecture, Art, and Design, Lu Xun Academy of Fine Art, Shenyang, China

Abstract

This paper takes Jacques Derrida's deconstructionist theory as its core and explores the process of transforming deconstructionism from theory to practice. The article first uses the metaphor of “the Tower of Babel” to explain the challenge that deconstructionist philosophy poses to the logic of architecture. By analyzing deconstructionist philosophical theory, and based on Jacques Derrida's core ideas, the logic of deconstruction in linguistics and semiotics is used to translate architecture. The article then explores the possibility of deconstructing architecture by spatially translating deconstructionist philosophy into architecture. Finally, the article uses an analysis of Zaha Hadid's practice as an example to demonstrate the practical embodiment of deconstructionist architectural theory. The article concludes by emphasizing that deconstructionist architecture is not only a subversion of traditional structures, but also a continuous process of philosophical reflection on the essence and meaning of architecture.

Keywords

Deconstruction (Philosophy), Deconstruction (Architecture), Architecture, Derrida, Spatial Boundaries

Cite This Paper

Jiahui Zhao. Deconstruction: Philosophy to Architecture. Frontiers in Art Research (2025), Vol. 7, Issue 5: 1-6. https://doi.org/10.25236/FAR.2025.070501.

References

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[5] Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Cambridge University Press, 1998. 

[6] Derrida, Jacques. Force and Signification. University of Chicago Press, 1978. 

[7] Hadid, Zaha. Zaha Hadid: Complete Works. Rizzoli, 2004. 

[8] Jencks, Charles. The New Paradigm in Architecture: The Language of Post-Modernism. Yale University Press, 2002. 

[9] Tschumi, Bernard. Event-Cities. MIT Press, 1994. 

[10] Libeskind, Daniel. Breaking Ground: Adventures in Life and Architecture. Riverhead Books, 2004.