Architecture and the Senses in the Italian Renaissance : The Varieties of Architectural Experience

This is the first study of Renaissance architecture as an immersive, multisensory experience that combines historical analysis with the evidence of first-hand accounts. Questioning the universalizing claims of contemporary architectural phenomenologists, David Karmon emphasizes the infinite variety of meanings produced through human interactions with the built environment. His book draws upon the close study of literary and visual sources to prove that early modern audiences paid sustained attention to the multisensory experience of the buildings and cities in which they lived. Through reconstructing the Renaissance understanding of the senses, we can better gauge how constant interaction with the built environment shaped daily practices and contributed to new forms of understanding. Architecture and the Senses in the Italian Renaissance offers a stimulating new approach to the study of Renaissance architecture and urbanism as a kind of 'experiential trigger' that shaped ways of both thinking and being in the world. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title page 5 Copyright information 6 Dedication 7 Table of Contents 9 List of Illustrations 11 Preface 15 Architecture Hot and Cold 18 Acknowledgments 31 One A Sense of Renaissance Architecture 33 The Pluralism of William James 34 New Directions in Scholarship 38 Renaissance Architecture and the ''Great Divide'' 42 Architectural Phenomenology 47 The Architectural Historian and the Senses 50 A Map to the Book 57 Two Architecture and the Imagination 61 The Renaissance Understanding of the Senses 65 Interacting with Environments 69 Renaissance Reverie 75 Architectural Reverie 77 Material Reverie 81 The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili 84 La Petite Maison 89 Three Movement in the Built Environment 95 ''Static and Unchangeable Form'' 98 Gender, Movement, and the City 110 Walking on Chopines 111 The Pleasures of the Paved Surface 116 City Walls and Gates 124 Neighborhood Boundaries 126 On Foot in Renaissance Rome 131 Four The Building of Devotion 138 The Mystery of Smell 140 Intimate Olfactory Patterns 144 Scenting Three Chapels 147 Proximate to Distant Sensing 154 Sensory Ethics 157 Scents of the Imagination 159 The Ghetto and the Senses 161 Five Sensations of Health and Illness 172 Architecture and the Medical Treatise 173 Sensing in Public and in Private 178 Florence: Santa Maria Nuova 183 Milan: Ospedale Maggiore 187 Ottoman Hospitals and the Senses 197 Sensory Refreshment and the Garden 199 Malta: Sacra Infermeria 203 Epilogue 209 Bibliography 221 Notes 237 Preface 237 ONE 237 Two 239 Three 241 Four 245 Five 248 Epilogue 253 Index 255 "This is the first study of Renaissance architecture as an immersive, multisensory experience that combines historical analysis with the evidence of first-hand accounts. Questioning the universalizing claims of contemporary architectural phenomenologists, David Karmon emphasizes the infinite variety of meanings produced through human interactions with the built environment. His book draws upon the close study of literary and visual sources to prove that early modern audiences paid sustained attention to the multisensory experience of the buildings and cities in which they lived. Through reconstructing the Renaissance understanding of the senses, we can better gauge how constant interaction with the built environment shaped daily practices and contributed to new forms of understanding. Architecture and Senses on the Italian Renaissance offers a stimulating new approach to the study of Renaissance architecture and urbanism as a kind of 'experiential trigger' that shaped ways of both thinking and being in the world." "This is the first study of Renaissance architecture as an immersive, multisensory experience, combining first-hand experiences with historical analysis. Questioning the universalizing claims of contemporary architectural phenomenologists, David Karmon emphasizes the infinite variety of meanings produced through human interactions with the built environment. He reconstructs the Renaissance understanding of the senses, examines how architecture and the senses shaped daily practices and contributed to new forms of understanding, and presents literary and visual sources that provide abundant evidence for sustained attention to the multisensory experience of the built environment in the Renaissance world. By exploring how the 'experiential trigger' of architecture creates a multi- faceted dynamic experience between the object and the individual, Karmon's book offers a new and innovative approach to the study of Renaissance architecture"-- Provided by publisher