Architecture of Crowds
2026

physical installation, animation, book with architectural renderings

Architecture of Crowds is an architectural probe into the question of crowd-ness. It examines contemporary forms of crowds — groups of people of varying sizes, scales, speeds, and motivations — and the ways in which they are predetermined and further shaped by the built environment. Understanding architecture as a means of organizing human bodies leads to the discovery of its often violent political power.

The text is introduced by a historical analysis that examines how the topic of crowds was adapted by different historical periods, tracing the transformations of crowds from early modernity to the present day, and focusing on the genesis of the long view from above and the image of the crowd. The text then examines contemporary forms of crowds, drawing on Elias Canetti’s slow and fast crowds, from megachurch congregations and consumer crowds to commuters in dense transit systems or violent rioters. In all these cases, architecture frames the crowd as a powerful, and therefore potentially violent, backdrop.