What is the expanded field of architecture?

In 1979, Rosalind Krauss published her classic article Sculpture in the Expanded Field in the journal October, in which she identifies a certain fraying of boundaries in the field of sculpture, “showing how the meaning of a cultural term can be extended to include almost anything” [1]. The critique, specifically directed at artistic work produced between the 1960s and 1970s, was used 26 years later, in 2005, as the foundation for the publication of Architecture’s Expanded Field by Anthony Vidler.

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Vidler’s article, published in the proceedings of the seminar Architecture Between Spectacle and Use, offers reflections on architectural production at the turn of the century that still resonate in theory and criticism today. The author’s concern, which is directly related to attempts to define architecture as a discipline, stems from the multiplicity of architectural practices during this period. These practices were characterized less by the specificity of the field than by its malleability, pointing to a series of connections with other areas, such as sculpture and landscape.