Towards an Architectural Anthropology: What architects can learn from anthropology and vice versa

Architecture and anthropology have always had overlapping interests regarding issues such as spatial organisation, forms of human dwellings and the interplay between social life and physical surroundings. Recent developments in both disciplines make it even more relevant to explore and evolve their overlaps and collaboration. However, there are also challenging differences to take into account regarding disciplinary traditions of e.g. communication, temporality and normativity. This article explores the potentials and challenges of architectural anthropology as a distinct sub-discipline, and outlines its possible theoretical, methodological and applied contributions. It is put forward that the ambition to understand people in a different way than they understand themselves is key in both disciplines.