The Eyes of the Skin : Architecture and the Senses

THE EYES OF THE SKIN Explore the relationship between architecture and the sensory experience with the fourth edition of this groundbreaking work First published in 1996, The Eyes of the Skin is a classic of architectural theory. It asks the far-reaching question why, when there are five senses, is one single sense—sight—so predominant in architectural culture and design? With the ascendancy of the digital and the all-pervasive use of the image electronically, the subject is all the more pressing and topical since the first edition's publication. Juhani Pallasmaa argues that the suppression of the other four sensory realms has led to the overall impoverishment of our built environment, often diminishing the emphasis on the spatial experience of a building and architecture's ability to inspire, engage and be wholly life enhancing. For a student reading this text for the first time, The Eyes of the Skin is a revelation. It provides a fresh, compelling insight into architectural culture which continues to inspire more than a quarter-century after its initial publication. The fourth edition of The Eyes of the Skin also features: The author's latest views on the emphasis of place, unfocused perception and existential experience Updates and clarifications throughout, to reinforce how our sense of self in the world remains our most important sense with the greatest architectural impact An updated Foreword that touches on the current understanding of the seminal importance of the existential sense The Eyes of the Skin is a must-read for all architecture students, who will find its insights transformative. Cover Title page Copyright Contents Foreword Introduction: Touching the World Part One Vision and Knowledge Critics of Ocularcentrism The Narcissistic and Nihilistic Eye Oral Versus Visual Space Retinal Architecture and the Loss of Plasticity An Architecture of Visual Images Materiality and Time The Rejection of Alberti’s Window A New Vision and Sensory Balance Part Two The Body in the Centre Multi-Sensory Experience The Significance of the Shadow Acoustic Intimacy Silence, Time and Solitude Spaces of Scent The Shape of Touch The Taste of Stone Images of Muscle and Bone Images of Action Bodily Identification Mimesis of the Body Spaces of Memory and Imagination An Architecture of the Senses The Task of Architecture A Door Handle, A Handshake: An introduction to Juhani Pallasmaa and his work Apertures Poetics Notes Index Picture Credits EULA.