New Book Co-edited by Pari Riahi,‘Exactitude: On Precision and Play in Contemporary Architecture,’ Published by UMass Press

Pari Riahi, assistant professor of architecture, has co-edited a new book, “Exactitude: On Precision and Play in Contemporary Architecture,” which will be published by UMass Press Friday, June 17.

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Co-edited with Laure Katsaros, Amherst College French and architectural studies professor, and Michael T. Davis, founder of the program for architectural studies at Mount Holyoke College, the book explores the need for precision, or exactitude, at the forefront of architectural scholarship as new technologies have increased demands for accuracy. It goes beyond themes of sustainability, performance and formal innovation—which have historically been considered the most important aspects of the field—to explore the theoretical and practical demands exactitude imposes on architecture.

Eleven essays in the book investigate the possibilities and shortcomings of exactitude and delve into current debates about the state of contemporary architecture as both a technological craft and artistic creation.

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The book, which was inspired by the 2020 Five College Architecture Symposium hosted by the UMass Amherst Department of Architecture, has been hailed as an “important and timely” contribution on “an indispensable topic for architecture” by Mohsen Mostafavi, editor of “Ethics of the Urban: The City and the Spaces of the Political.”

In celebration of the book’s release, the College of Humanities and Fine Arts will host a launch event in the fall, the details of which will be announced soon.