Boredom, architecture and spatial experience / Christian Parreno.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parreno, Christian, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture--Phychological aspects.

Architecture.

Boredom.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 260 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Distribution:

[London, England] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Place of Publication:

London ; Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2020.

Summary:

"Boredom is a ubiquitous feature of modern life. Endured by everyone, it is a by-product of modernity, and of situations, spaces and surroundings. As such, this book argues, boredom shares an intimate relationship with modern architecture - one that has been little-explored in architectural history and theory. Boredom, Architecture and Spatial Experience explores that relationship, showing how an understanding of boredom affords us a new way of looking at and understanding the modern architectural experience. It reconstructs a series of episodes in architectural history from the nineteenth century to the present, to explore how boredom became a normalized component of modernity, how it infiltrated into the production and reception of modern architecture, and how it serves to expose moments of crisis in the architecture of the twentieth century. Erudite and innovative, the work moves deftly from architectural theory and philosophy to art theory and sociology to make its case. Combining archival material, literary sources and illuminating excerpts from conversations with practitioners and thinkers (including Charles Jencks, Rem Koolhaas, Sylvia Lavin, and Jorge Silvetti), it reveals the complexity and importance of boredom in the experience and practice of architecture"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

List of Illustrations

Preface

Foreword by Iain Borden

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Boredom as Architecture

1. A Component of Modernity

Differential Distances: 2. Fascination and Aversion ; 3. Søren Kierkegaard's Babylonian Tower ; 4. Catherine Gore and Charles Dickens: Idle Restlessness/Restless Idleness ; 5. Blunting and Jading ; 6. Coney Island, Misleading Structures

Circular Trajectories: 7. A Unity of Disarray ; 8. Martin Heidegger's Urge to Be at Home ; 9. Oran, the Capital of Boredom ; 10. International Style Confusions: Sigfried Giedion ; 11. Los Angeles, Flat Enough

Extended Thresholds: 12. Potential Architectures ; 13. Andrew Benjamin's Antithesis to Boredom ; 14. Boredom in Domus ; 15. Servitude and Liberalism: Russell Kirk ; 16. Charles Jencks, Rem Koolhaas, and the Generic ; 17. Jorge Silvetti and Sylvia Lavin: Unamused Muses and Lying Fallow

Epilogue: Architectures of Boredom

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Outgrowth of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Oslo School of Architecture and Design, 2017, under the title: Boredom as space : episodes of modern architecture.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781350148161

1350148164

9781350148154

1350148156

9781350148147

1350148148

OCLC:

1238133578