Abstract
Since 1980, the rapidly expanding field of architectural history has been fundamentally transformed in terms of both its objects and its methods. Conventional biographical or monographic works have been joined by investigations into the commissioning, use, representation and communication of architecture, while national issues have been rethought, whether in terms of colonial situations or transnational relations. In terms of method, while the problematics of social history and intellectual history have been applied, literary theory seems to offer new resources for interpreting works and their genesis. These methodological translations raise the recurring question of the autonomy of historical research on architecture, while digital approaches promise new methods for analyzing projects and buildings.
