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Pari Riahi, associate professor of architecture and associate dean for research and engagement in HFA, has co-edited the new book, “Multiplicity: On Constraint and Agency in Contemporary Architecture,” which was recently published by UMass Press.

Co-edited with Laure Katsaros, Amherst College G. Armour Craig Professor in language and literature, and Michael T. Davis, Mount Holyoke professor emeritus of art history and architectural studies, the book explores architecture’s reckoning with urgent issues – including the impact of climate change, the dynamics of power and race in relation with the built environment, and the technological, practical and ethical dimensions of building, preserving and degrowth – as it searches for new definitions, identities and voices.

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The second in a series, “Multiplicity” situates architecture within a broad framework, exploring its complex interactions with environmental, cultural, political, social, artistic and technological forces. The essay collection has been celebrated as “an essential insight into architecture under its various guises” by Antoine Picon, author of “Digital Culture in Architecture: An Introduction for the Design Professions.” It also “takes architectural discourse well beyond the old debate and disparity between prescription and invention," according to Teresa Stoppani, author of “Unorthodox Ways to Think the City: Representations, Constructions, Dynamics.”

A series of book events in fall 2024 will stimulate conversations about Multiplicity, among them, one at the Center for Architecture AIA NY on Thursday, Sept. 12, and another on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Amherst College.

The book is the second of a three-part series of symposia and their accompanying edited volumes, bringing together the Five College Architecture Studies programs and UMass Amherst Architecture. The third and last installment of the series will start with a symposium, open and free to the public, titled “Quickness: On Rhythms of time in Contemporary Architecture,” which will take place in the atrium of the Design Building, Oct. 2-3. Additional details for the upcoming symposium are forthcoming.