Body and Building

Essays on the changing relationship of the human body and architecture.

Since Greek antiquity, the human body has been regarded as a microcosm of universal harmony. In this book, an international group of architects, architectural historians, and theorists examines the relation of the human body and architecture. The essays view well-known buildings, texts, paintings, ornaments, and landscapes from the perspective of the body's physical, psychological, and spiritual needs and pleasures. Topics include Greek temples; the churches of Tadao Ando in Japan; Renaissance fortresses and paintings; the body, space, and dwelling in Wright's and Schindler's houses in North America; the corporeal dimension of Carlo Scarpa's landscapes and gardens; theory from Vitruvius to the Renaissance and Enlightenment; and Freudian psychoanalysis. The essays are framed by an appreciation of architectural historian and theorist Joseph Rykwert's influential work on the subject.

Review text:
'A fitting tribute to the first 75 years of the Rykwert stable.'

-- Building Design

'... fascinating essays of lasting interest, to which a short review cannot do justice.'

-- Kate Fusin, The Architect's Journal