Phenomenologies of the City: Studies in the History and Philosophy of Architecture

PhenomenologiesoftheCity:StudiesintheHistoryandPhilosophyofArchitecturebringsarchitectureandurbanismintodialoguewithphenomenology.Phenomenologyhasinformeddebateaboutthecityfromsocialsciencestoculturalstudies.Withinarchitecture,however,phenomenologicalinquiryhasbeenneglectingthequestionofthecity.Addressingthislacuna,thisbooksuggeststhatthecitypresentsnotonlytherichest,butalsothepoliticallymosturgenthorizonofreferenceforphilosophicalreflectionontheculturalandethicaldimensionsofarchitecture.Thecontributorstothisvolumearearchitectsandscholarsofurbanism.Somehavebackgroundsinliterature,history,religiousstudies,andarthistory.Thebookfeatures16chaptersbyyoungerscholarsaswellasestablishedthinkersincludingPeterCarl,DavidLeatherbarrow,AlbertoPérez-Gomez,WendyPullanandDaliborVesely.Ratherthandevelopingasingletheoreticalstatement,thebookaddressesarchitecture’srelationshipwiththecityinawiderangeofhistoricalandcontemporarycontexts.Thechapterstracehiddengenealogies,andexploretherupturesasmuchasthepersistenceofrecurrentculturalmotifs.Together,theseinterconnectedphenomenologiesofthecityraisesimplebutfundamentalquestions:Whatisthecityfor,howisitordered,andhowcanitbeunderstood?Thebookdoesnotadvocateareturntoanaivesenseof’unity’or’order’.Rather,itinvestigateshowarchitecturecangeneratemeaningandforgeaswellascontestsocialandculturalrepresentations.