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Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture
Binding : Paperback
Author :
Publisher : William K Stout Pub
Publication Date : 2007-07-15
Edition : 2
Number of pages : 155
ISBN : 0974621471
ISBN13 : 9780974621470
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Editorial Review :
This new edition of Questions of Perception brings back into print one of the most important architectural theory treatise of recent years. Authored by noted architectural scholars Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Juhani Pallasmaa as well as the preeminent architect Steven Holl, the three separate essays are thematically linked: each one tries to explain the role human perception and phenomenological experience play in architecture. In particular, Holl -- who was named by Time magazine as the most important architect of his generation and the designer of the much-lauded Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University and the highly anticipated Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art addition -- lucidly explicates the importance of intuition in the construction and experience of built space. Holl explains his search for phenomenological experience thus: "To open architecture to questions of perception, we must suspend disbelief, disengage the rational half of the mind, and simply play and explore. Reason and skepticism must yield to a horizon of discovery."
This new edition of Questions of Perception brings back into print one of the most important architectural theory treatise of recent years. Authored by noted architectural scholars Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Juhani Pallasmaa as well as the preeminent architect Steven Holl, the three separate essays are thematically linked: each one tries to explain the role human perception and phenomenological experience play in architecture. In particular, Holl -- who was named by Time magazine as the most important architect of his generation and the designer of the much-lauded Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University and the highly anticipated Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art addition -- lucidly explicates the importance of intuition in the construction and experience of built space. Holl explains his search for phenomenological experience thus: "To open architecture to questions of perception, we must suspend disbelief, disengage the rational half of the mind, and simply play and explore. Reason and skepticism must yield to a horizon of discovery."
What Other customer speak :
Customer Review1 :
The book was published more than 10 years ago and it's making its own history by the exclusive way of combining profound theoretical essays and design works together seamlessly. I have to say it works pretty well. Having seen Steven Holl's works and the office expanded, this book and the design deserve more attention than other cheap building constituted with meaningless idea and shallow skins.
Customer Review2 :
Excellent essays but the typesetting makes it a difficult read (the font is extremely small.)
Customer Review3 :
Anything, of course, is about the sensorial. It's our world. It's your world. What do you feel in it? What do I feel when I'm there, in a space? And this meditation -- regardless of what that space might be -- is really about everything, from architecturally conceived environments, to the nature of truly "natural" space. There is the potential in all, to contemplate the spirit of the space and the character of your presence in it. You are there, you are "in there". And you feel the warmth, the chill, the stillness, the breeze; you experience the scent drifting; you see light, shafts of movement; you hear something of reverberation in the containment of "where you are". Taste might play, balance might offer a sensed component to experience. But it's all about the meditation of what this means, how it can be considered - and how it can be reflected in active design, or in the nature of contemplating this phenom. Either it's meaning full -- and you consider it; or it's not the stuff of absorbed introspection and you simply design for it. Do it. Experience it. One way. Or an other. Surely, both have merit. As does reading this grouping of essays and ideas.
Customer Review4 :
Architects and students who are bored to death by OMA, MVRDV, Hadid, and the rest of the New Postmodernists will find consolation -- and inspiration -- in this book.
"Questions of Perception" was originally printed in July 1994, as a special issue of the architectural journal A+U. Back issues have been sold out for some time, and until recently, buying a used copy of the book would have set you back a couple hundred dollars. I'm very glad to see that the publishers of A+U decided to reprint these important essays.
Rather than serving as a polemical manifesto, or another boring iteration of reactionary academic theory, the authors discuss the experience of architecture on a basic psychophysiological level. Unlike the work of many of today's starchitects, this book will never seem dated, because it is focused on human constants -- the way that our minds and bodies respond to space, light, texture, color, and other architectural fundamentals. It is not a manual of style, or a collection of glossy photos for you to copy in your next project. It requires active thought. It requires an attention span. You have to absorb the meaning of the writings, not just look at computer renderings with copy+pasted supermodel silhouettes. It has nothing to do with urbanism, globalism, terrorism, or any of the other "isms" that hopeless, clueless, talentless academics increasingly try to link to the building and construction industry. Instead, it's a quiet reflection on the ways that buildings (and natural environments) shape our daily experiences. Even though 13 years have passed since these essays were written, they are still highly relevant for any designer who wants to infuse their work with quality and honesty.
As far as I can tell, the book's design is identical to the 1994 version, with the exception of the cover artwork. I must admit that $50 is a bit pricey for a book that is so plainly printed and bound. Regardless, it's better than paying a couple hundred dollars for a used copy of the original. And, all things considered, it's only a few dollars more than something like S,M,L,XL. So if you're tired of pretentious, pedantic academese, and you're ready to read something with permanence and substance, do yourself a favor and buy "Questions of Perception" instead.
Customer Review1 :
The book was published more than 10 years ago and it's making its own history by the exclusive way of combining profound theoretical essays and design works together seamlessly. I have to say it works pretty well. Having seen Steven Holl's works and the office expanded, this book and the design deserve more attention than other cheap building constituted with meaningless idea and shallow skins.
Customer Review2 :
Excellent essays but the typesetting makes it a difficult read (the font is extremely small.)
Customer Review3 :
Anything, of course, is about the sensorial. It's our world. It's your world. What do you feel in it? What do I feel when I'm there, in a space? And this meditation -- regardless of what that space might be -- is really about everything, from architecturally conceived environments, to the nature of truly "natural" space. There is the potential in all, to contemplate the spirit of the space and the character of your presence in it. You are there, you are "in there". And you feel the warmth, the chill, the stillness, the breeze; you experience the scent drifting; you see light, shafts of movement; you hear something of reverberation in the containment of "where you are". Taste might play, balance might offer a sensed component to experience. But it's all about the meditation of what this means, how it can be considered - and how it can be reflected in active design, or in the nature of contemplating this phenom. Either it's meaning full -- and you consider it; or it's not the stuff of absorbed introspection and you simply design for it. Do it. Experience it. One way. Or an other. Surely, both have merit. As does reading this grouping of essays and ideas.
Customer Review4 :
Architects and students who are bored to death by OMA, MVRDV, Hadid, and the rest of the New Postmodernists will find consolation -- and inspiration -- in this book.
"Questions of Perception" was originally printed in July 1994, as a special issue of the architectural journal A+U. Back issues have been sold out for some time, and until recently, buying a used copy of the book would have set you back a couple hundred dollars. I'm very glad to see that the publishers of A+U decided to reprint these important essays.
Rather than serving as a polemical manifesto, or another boring iteration of reactionary academic theory, the authors discuss the experience of architecture on a basic psychophysiological level. Unlike the work of many of today's starchitects, this book will never seem dated, because it is focused on human constants -- the way that our minds and bodies respond to space, light, texture, color, and other architectural fundamentals. It is not a manual of style, or a collection of glossy photos for you to copy in your next project. It requires active thought. It requires an attention span. You have to absorb the meaning of the writings, not just look at computer renderings with copy+pasted supermodel silhouettes. It has nothing to do with urbanism, globalism, terrorism, or any of the other "isms" that hopeless, clueless, talentless academics increasingly try to link to the building and construction industry. Instead, it's a quiet reflection on the ways that buildings (and natural environments) shape our daily experiences. Even though 13 years have passed since these essays were written, they are still highly relevant for any designer who wants to infuse their work with quality and honesty.
As far as I can tell, the book's design is identical to the 1994 version, with the exception of the cover artwork. I must admit that $50 is a bit pricey for a book that is so plainly printed and bound. Regardless, it's better than paying a couple hundred dollars for a used copy of the original. And, all things considered, it's only a few dollars more than something like S,M,L,XL. So if you're tired of pretentious, pedantic academese, and you're ready to read something with permanence and substance, do yourself a favor and buy "Questions of Perception" instead.