Zoomscape

How do we really experience architecture? Although we sometimes visit buildings, most of us experience architecture through the windshield of a moving car and from images recorded by cameras - through what the author of this wide-ranging and original essay calls the "zoomscape." Zoomscape argues that the perception of architecture has been altered by the technologies of transportation and the camera. We now look at buildings, neighborhoods, cities and whole contients as we ride in trains, cars, and planes, and as we view photographs, movies, and television. We perceive buildings and places at high speeds, across great distances, in states of distraction, and through edited and multiple reproductions. Using numerous examples from high art and popular culture - from the novels of Don DeLillo to the opening credits of The Sopranos - architectural historian Mitchell Schwarzer argues that the zoomscape has brought about unprecedented and often marvelous ways of perceiving the built environment. An original and thought-provoking book, we expect Zoomscape to garner lots of critical attention, in the style of a Mike Davis or Dave Hickey.