Edited by Helen Thomas

Directed by Paolo Portoghesi, the Second Venice Architecture Biennale raised questions about a postmodernity through realms extending south and east from the Mediterranean, where modernity and decolonisation were converging. Translated here for the first time for an English-speaking audience in Architecture in Islamic Countries: Selections from the Catalogue for the Second International Exhibition of Architecture Venice 1982/83 are selected texts by Mehdi Kowsar, Udo Kultermann, and Portoghesi from the original exhibition catalogue, accompanied by additional commentary. Furthermore, Esra Akcan reflects on the historical and socio-political contexts of the exhibition, while Asli Çiçek and Véronique Patteeuw consider the catalogue itself from the perspective of architectural history.