The Place of Silence
Architecture / Media / Philosophy
Published on 10. February 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-350-29450-9 (ISBN)
Description
The Place of Silence examines the poetics and politics of silence in architecture. Silence and quietness are terms often used by designers and critics to describe buildings, but the terms carry complex and varied meanings which demand interpretation if the power of silence in architecture is to be fully understood.
From the buildings of John Hejduk to auditory landscapes and the 'loss of silence' in the contemporary urban world, the book explores questions of sound and atmosphere through the lens of architecture and place. Examining the diverse practices, politics and cultural meanings of silent places and buildings in historical and contemporary contexts, the case studies in this book connect a number of themes - from the creation of atmospheric spaces to ideas of attunement and mood in architecture - making The Place of Silence the key resource to understanding this often-overlooked aspect of architecture and architectural design.
From the buildings of John Hejduk to auditory landscapes and the 'loss of silence' in the contemporary urban world, the book explores questions of sound and atmosphere through the lens of architecture and place. Examining the diverse practices, politics and cultural meanings of silent places and buildings in historical and contemporary contexts, the case studies in this book connect a number of themes - from the creation of atmospheric spaces to ideas of attunement and mood in architecture - making The Place of Silence the key resource to understanding this often-overlooked aspect of architecture and architectural design.
Reviews / Votes
There is an essential relation between place and silence. In The Place of Silence, Mark Dorrian and Christos Kakalis allow us to explore that relation in its multiplicity of forms through a wonderful array of essays - essays that move across different places and spaces and through a variety of media and disciplines. The result is a ground-breaking work that allows new insights into the character, not only of place and silence, but also of sound and space, emptiness and fullness, presence and absence, listening and attention, stillness and withdrawal. This is a book for everyone who has ever listened to the silence of a place or wondered at the place of silence itself. * Professor Jeff Malpas, Distinguished Professor, University of Tasmania * This array of lucid essays by respected scholars skillfully plumbs the many dimensions of silence in architecture: spaces, objects, materials, thoughts, cultural practices, atmospheres and the chthonic. . . . this book is a must-read for anyone seeking a quieter, subtler, deeper human-centered alternative that sings with unexpected approaches. * Professor Paul Emmons, Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, Virginia Tech, USA *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
45 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 227 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
664 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-29450-9 (9781350294509)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2020
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Visual Arts
€35.49
Available for download
E-Book
02/2020
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Visual Arts
€35.49
Available for download
Persons
Mark Dorrian holds the Forbes Chair in Architecture at the University of Edinburgh, UK and co-directs Metis, an atelier for art, architecture and urbanism. He has been a visiting professor at the Arkitektskolen Aarhus, Denmark; University of Michigan, USA; and Tianjin University, China; and a visiting scholar at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Canada.
Christos Kakalis is an architect and Lecturer in Architecture at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape of Newcastle University, UK.
Christos Kakalis is an architect and Lecturer in Architecture at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape of Newcastle University, UK.
Content
Introduction, Mark Dorrian (Edinburgh College of Art, UK) and Christos Kakalis (Newcastle University, UK)
Mediating Silence
1. 'Then There Was War': John Hejduk's Silent Witnesses as Nuclear Criticism, Mark Dorrian (Edinburgh College of Art, UK)
2. Textures of Silence in Claire Denis's Beau Travail, Hannah Paveck (Kings College London, UK)
3. Listening to Visaginas: on the Rescaling of Silences and Sounds in a Former Soviet Nuclear Town, Benjamin Cope (European Humanities University, Lithuania)
4. Urban Silence and Informational Noise: a Study of Athens's Invisible Structures, Aikaterini Antonopoulou (University of Liverpool, UK)
5. The Silent Present: the Contemporary Atmosphere of Architectural Historiography, Amy Kulper (RISD, USA)
Material Silences
6. Between the Lines, Manuela Antoniu (Independent Scholar, Japan)
7. The Silence of Michelangelo's Hammer, Jonathan Foote (Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark)
8. Making Silence: Modes of Emptiness in Iberian Art and Architecture, Ross Jenner (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
9. On Becoming Petrified: the Erotic Gaze in Architectural Conception, Carolina Dayer (Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark)
Practising Silence
10. Silence, Paradox and Religious Topography, Christos Kakalis (Newcastle University, UK)
11. Silences Generating Space, Tina Engels-Schwarzpaul (AUT University, New Zealand) and Carl Mika (University of Waikato, New Zealand)
12. Silence in the Middle Ground: Aesthetic Immersion in the Geologic, Tiago Torres-Campos (University of Edinburgh, UK)
13. John Hejduk and Samuel Beckett: Going On, in Silence and Lateness, Jason O'Shaughnessy (University College Cork, Ireland)
Silence and the Senses
14. Quiet Places - Silent Space: Towards a Phenomenology of Silence, Gernot Boehme (Institut fuer Praxis der Philosophie, Germany)
15. Silence Please! A Brief History of Silence at the Theatre, Louise Pelletier (UQAM, Canada)
16. Vessels of Place: Auditory Landscapes, Cross-Cultural Echoes in South-West Victoria, Paul Carter (RMIT University, Australia)
17. Attunement and Silence, Alberto Perez-Gomez (McGill University, Canada)
Bibliography
Index
Mediating Silence
1. 'Then There Was War': John Hejduk's Silent Witnesses as Nuclear Criticism, Mark Dorrian (Edinburgh College of Art, UK)
2. Textures of Silence in Claire Denis's Beau Travail, Hannah Paveck (Kings College London, UK)
3. Listening to Visaginas: on the Rescaling of Silences and Sounds in a Former Soviet Nuclear Town, Benjamin Cope (European Humanities University, Lithuania)
4. Urban Silence and Informational Noise: a Study of Athens's Invisible Structures, Aikaterini Antonopoulou (University of Liverpool, UK)
5. The Silent Present: the Contemporary Atmosphere of Architectural Historiography, Amy Kulper (RISD, USA)
Material Silences
6. Between the Lines, Manuela Antoniu (Independent Scholar, Japan)
7. The Silence of Michelangelo's Hammer, Jonathan Foote (Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark)
8. Making Silence: Modes of Emptiness in Iberian Art and Architecture, Ross Jenner (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
9. On Becoming Petrified: the Erotic Gaze in Architectural Conception, Carolina Dayer (Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark)
Practising Silence
10. Silence, Paradox and Religious Topography, Christos Kakalis (Newcastle University, UK)
11. Silences Generating Space, Tina Engels-Schwarzpaul (AUT University, New Zealand) and Carl Mika (University of Waikato, New Zealand)
12. Silence in the Middle Ground: Aesthetic Immersion in the Geologic, Tiago Torres-Campos (University of Edinburgh, UK)
13. John Hejduk and Samuel Beckett: Going On, in Silence and Lateness, Jason O'Shaughnessy (University College Cork, Ireland)
Silence and the Senses
14. Quiet Places - Silent Space: Towards a Phenomenology of Silence, Gernot Boehme (Institut fuer Praxis der Philosophie, Germany)
15. Silence Please! A Brief History of Silence at the Theatre, Louise Pelletier (UQAM, Canada)
16. Vessels of Place: Auditory Landscapes, Cross-Cultural Echoes in South-West Victoria, Paul Carter (RMIT University, Australia)
17. Attunement and Silence, Alberto Perez-Gomez (McGill University, Canada)
Bibliography
Index