Tom Spector

Author of "Architecture and the Public Good"

January 10, 2022

Tom Spector is a professor of Architecture at OSU where he has taught since 2001. His previous books are "How Architects Write" (with co-author Rebecca Damron), "The Ethical Architect" and "The Guide to the Architecture of Georgia." He is the founder and managing editor of the journal Architecture Philosophy. Tom received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and his Masters in Architecture from Georgia Tech.

"Architecture and the Public Good" seeks to firmly establish the ethical justification for the architecture profession in the public good that results from its protected status – a good that cannot be well accounted for by market mechanisms. While this fundamental idea may initially seem to conform to common sense, problems arise when we seek to define just who the public is and of what it’s good consists. This definition is further complicated by the profession’s own history which often undermines its professed public spirit. To advance a strong defense of the profession, the work of Jurgen Habermas is applied to help analyze the current state of the public.

URL: https://library-dep.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2022-honorees/tom-spector

Last Updated: 19 January 2022