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American Debates around the Autonomy of Critique in Architecture, 1990-2004Louis MartinProfessor, Department of Art History, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)In 1990, the art historian Sylvia Lavin objected to the emergence of an autonomous form of critique in architecture, that is to a “critical theory” which had lost its own object, namely architecture, and architecture’s concern about form. Her provocative criticism forced proponents of “critical architectural theory” to clarify their respective positions.My paper examines some aspects of this debate and suggests that the rise of an autonomous critique in architecture in the USA was largely influenced by the reception of the work of Manfredo Tafuri in the American architectural academia around 1980. More precisely, the Tafurian ideological critique of architecture fostered an interest in the writings of French intellectuals such as Barthes, Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze, among others, authors whose ideas were disseminated in the USA under the guise of a coherent “French Theory”.In 2004, George Baird suggested that the “critical” tendency waned with the apparent return of pragmatic attitudes in American architectural circles.&#160;&#160;&#160;