bodyoftheory
body
Eye and Mind
‘Seeing and Being-Seen’: In the second section of ‘Eye and Mind’ Merleau-Ponty describes what goes on in the act of making paintings – an intertwining of body and world that also serves as the model for perception in general. There are a number of ways of understanding this process of intertwining, all of which involve … Continue reading
Critical Phenomenology
One of the latest products of Columbia University’s formidable factory of theory is Jorge Otero-Pailos’ book Architecture’s Historical Turn [1] which threatens to overturn at least two longstanding conventions. One is that the rise of postmodernism in architecture was mainly due to the influence of structural-linguistic and semiotic models of meaning and communication; the other … Continue reading
Making Sense in the Mid-Lands
In a recent lecture at the University of Nottingham, David Leatherbarrow (University of Pennsylvania) set out what might be called – in an echo of his Philadelphia neighbours Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown – a ‘gentle manifesto’ for a not-too-complex-but-just-a-little-bit-contradictory approach to contemporary design. [1] In a typically precise and measured delivery, and in language … Continue reading
Opaque and Transparent Technology
The engineer and educator Peter McCleary, in an essay that leans heavily – as most things do in the philosophy of technology – on the writings of Martin Heidegger, asks a curious but interesting question: “What are the characteristics of knowledge derived during the production of the built environment?” [1]. McCleary claims that by picking … Continue reading
Rethinking Technology / Rethinking Architecture
With the semester one marksheets still smouldering in the fireplace, yesterday it was back to the lecture room to start all over again – this time on 5th year/masters module ‘Rethinking Architecture’ (which should really be called ‘Rethinking Technology’ – a long story..). Not sure why they gave us a room big enough for 160 … Continue reading
Welcome!
Welcome to ‘bodyoftheory’, an experiment in research and communication in the field of architectural humanities. I hope it will help me to bring together a series of research and teaching interests, ideas, activities and outputs around the broad theme of ‘architecture and embodiment’. This is something I’ve been interested in for a long time and passionately … Continue reading
bodyoftheory 