Architecture and Spatial Culture

Reviews / Votes

'Peponis' groundbreaking book, Architecture and Spatial Culture, addresses the ways in which individuals and societies organise and make sense of the buildings and urban spaces that they inhabit. We appear to live in an increasingly dematerialised world dominated by digital technologies and virtual realities but, because physical infrastructure continues to underpin human existence, the design of architectural and urban space really matters. Blending memoir with philosophy and rigorous empirical research, the book encapsulates a lifetime's deep knowledge and understanding of complex buildings and urban forms. Wide ranging, thought-provoking and sometimes challenging, it is essential reading for architects and urban designers and also for anyone intrigued by the role played by built space in shaping existing and emerging social practices.'

Julienne Hanson, Professor Emerita of House Form and Culture, University College London, UK

'For John Peponis, 'spatial culture' is a set of principles by which people take account of the configurations of buildings and cities, to arrange their activities in space. This theme is explored through an attractive blend of theoretical analysis, personal reminiscence, and detailed studies of buildings. Peponis is the leading figure in the 'space syntax' movement; one of the pleasures of the text is to have a history of those ideas by one of the chief protagonists. This splendid and important book will be greatly valued in architecture and the social sciences.'

Philip Steadman, Professor of Urban and Built Form Studies, University College London, UK

'Elegantly written, eminently accessible, and indispensable for its evidence-based wisdom, Architecture and Spatial Culture is studded with insights into how buildings and cities work, in their spatial configuration, to engage human attention, interaction, movement, and memory. Especially noteworthy is Peponis' transcendence of the purely personal, experiential point of view, showing how history, institutions, and culture are spatially/structurally formative and so capable-once understood-of bringing architecture closer to its creative, life-enhancing potential.'

Michael Benedikt, Professor, Hall Box Endowed Chair in Urbanism, University of Texas at Austin, USA

'What Peponis has achieved with this book is a remarkable marriage of the subjective and the objective, of the personal and the scientific, of everyday life and extraordinary pieces of architecture, of imaginative design considerations and the rigorous yet abstract foundations of space syntax. It is to be hoped that Architecture and Spatial Culture will be read widely in the architectural community and not just in inner space syntax circles, as a way to bring the everyday life of people into the architectural discourse, which is sorely needed.'

Kerstin Sailer, Professor in the Sociology of Architecture at UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture, UK.