The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture - Architectural Design Primer (Paperback)

Juhani Pallasmaa (author)

£32.99

Paperback 160 Pages / Published: 20/03/2009

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Synopsis

In this book Pallasmaa progresses his case for a multi-sensory approach to architecture, espoused in The Eyes of the Skin, by taking a wider view of the role of embodiment in human existential reactions, experiences and expressions as well as the processes of making and thinking. The Thinking Hand is a metaphor for the characteristic independence and autonomous activity of all our senses as they constantly scan the physical world. Many of our most crucial skills are internalised as automatic reactions that we are not consciously aware of. Even in the case of learning skills, the sequence of movements in a task is internalised and embodied rather than understood and remembered intellectually. Prevailing educational philosophies continue to emphasise conceptual, intellectual and verbal knowledge over this tacit and non-conceptual wisdom of our embodied processes, which is so essential to our experience and understanding of the physical and the built.

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
ISBN: 9780470779293
Number of pages: 160
Weight: 432 g
Dimensions: 220 x 172 x 12 mm

MEDIA REVIEWS

"The Thinking Hand is a superb piece of writing. A primer not just for architecture, but for life." (Blueprint, July 2009)

"...beautifully illustrated sequence of essays...It is philosophical, emotional and, unusually for architectural theory, as clear as a building made of glass." (The Guardian, August 1st 2009)