Description
Book SynopsisA collection of the writing of the highly influential architect, Juhani Pallasmaa, presented in short, easily accessible, and condensed ideas ideal for students
Juhani Pallasmaa is one of Finland's most distinguished architects and architectural thinkers, publishing around 60 books and several hundred essays and shorter pieces over his career. His influential works have inspired undergraduate and postgraduate students of architecture and related disciplines for decades. In this compilation of excerpts of his writing, readers can discover his key concepts and thoughts in one easily accessible, comprehensive volume.
Inseminations: Seeds for Architectural Thoughtis a delightful collection of thoughtful ideas and compositions that float between academic essay and philosophical reflection. Wide in scope, it offers entries covering: atmospheres; biophilic beauty; embodied understanding; imperfection; light and shadow; newness and nowness; nostalgia; phenomenolo
Table of Contents
Preface xxi
Inseminations A 1
An Artwork is… 1
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought - Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 1
Aestheticization 1
The Existential Wisdom: Fusion of Architectural and Mental Space (2008) 1
Amplifiers of Emotions 3
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 3
Animal Architecture 3
Architecture and the Human Nature: Searching for a Sustainable Metaphor (2011) 9
Anonymity 10
Voices of Tranquility: Silence in Art and Architecture (2011) 10
Architectural Courtesy 11
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 11
Architecture and Being 11
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 11
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 12
Architecture and Biology 12
Architecture as Experience: Existential Meaning in Architecture (2018) 12
Empathic Imagination: Embodied and Emotive Simulation in Architecture (2016) 14
Architecture as Experience 14
Architecture as Experience: Existential Meaning in Architecture (2018) 14
Architecture as Impure Discipline 16
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 16
Landscapes of Architecture: Architecture and the Influence of other Fields of Inquiry (2003/2010) 17
Architecture and the Human Nature: Searching for a Sustainable Metaphor (2011) 17
Architecture is Constructed Mental Space 18
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 18
Art as Representation and Reality 19
Between Art and Science: Reality and Experience in Architecture and Art (2018) 19
Architecture, Reality and Self 20
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 21
Art vs Science I 21
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 21
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: - Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 21
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 22
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 22
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 23
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 23
Art vs Science II 23
Infinity and Limits: Infinitude, Eternity and Artistic Imagination (2017) 23
Artists as Phenomenologists and Neurologists 25
Sarah Robinson, Juhani Pallasmaa, editors, Mind in Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the Future of Design, Cambridge, MA, and London: The MIT Press, 2007, 66–68 25
Artists vs Architects 28
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 28
Atmospheres in Architecture 28
Space, Place and Atmosphere: Peripheral Perception in Existential Experience (2011) 28
Atmospheric Intelligence 31
Touching the World: Integration of the Senses and the Experience of Reality (2018) 31
Atmospheres in the Arts 32
Space, Place and Atmosphere: Peripheral Perception and Emotion in Architectural Experience (2012) 32
Atmospheric Sense [The] 34
Sarah Robinson, Juhani Pallasmaa, editors, Mind in Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the Future of Design, Cambridge, MA, and London: The MIT Press, 2007, 60–61 34
Inseminations B 37
Beauty 37
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 37
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 37
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 38
Beauty and Ethics 39
The Ethical Meaning of Beauty (2019) 39
Beauty and Time 43
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 43
Being in the World 44
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived space in Art and Architecture (2006) 44
Biophilic beauty 45
SPACE, PLACE AND ATMOSPHERE: peripheral perception and emotion in architectural experience (2012) 45
Books (and architecture) 46
LANDSCAPES OF ARCHITECTURE: architecture and the influence of other fields of inquiry (2003/2010) 47
Burial architecture 49
ARCHITECTURE AND SYMBOLIC LIFE: the mental meaning of time, memory and burial in architecture (2019) 49
Inseminations C 57
Cinema and Architecture 57
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 57
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 57
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 58
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 58
Cinema and Painting 61
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 62
Collaboration 63
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 63
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression - Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 64
Collective Memories 64
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 64
Complexity of Simplicity [The] 65
The Complexity of Simplicity: The Inner Structure of the Artistic Image (2016) 65
Computer and Imagination 68
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 68
Computerised Hand [The] 69
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 95. 69
Condensing 73
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 73
Craftsmanship 73
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 52–53; 59–60; 63–65; and 66–69 73
Craftsmanship 73
Creative Imagination 76
Empathic Imagination: Embodied and Emotive Simulation in Architecture (2016) 77
Creative Team Work? 78
Empathic Imagination: Embodied and Emotive Simulation in Architecture (2016) 78
Inseminations D 81
Depthlessness 81
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 81
Design Process 81
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 107–109 81
Digital Universe 82
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 82
Drawing 83
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009. Drawing and the Self (paragraph title) 84
Drawing and Observation 84
The Tactility of Drawing 85
Drawing Without Eyes 86
Drawing and Body Imagery 86
Drawing by Hand 87
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 59 87
Inseminations E 89
Education 89
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 89
Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture (2009) 89
Elementarism 90
Juhani Pallasmaa, Encounters, Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 88–89 90
Embodied Existence 91
Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture (2009) 91
Embodied Knowledge and Thought 92
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 92
Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture (2009) 93
Embodied Memory 94
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 94
Embodied Understanding 95
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 95
Emotional Echo 97
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 97
Emotions 98
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 98
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 99
Emotions and Creative Thought 99
Space, Place and Atmosphere: Peripheral Perception and Emotion in Architectural Experience (2012) 99
Empathy 101
Architecture as Experience: Existential Meaning in Architecture (2018) 101
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 101
Sarah Robinson, Juhani Pallasmaa, editors, Mind in Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the Future of Design, Cambridge, MA, and London: The MIT Press, 2007, 60 102
Encountering Architecture 103
Architecture as Experience: Existential Meaning in Architecture (2018) 103
Evocativeness 104
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 104
Exchange 104
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 105
Existential Space I 105
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 105
Existential Space II 106
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 106
Experience has a Multi-Sensory Essence 106
The Sensuality of Matter: Material Imagination, Hapticity and Time (2012) 106
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 107
The Sensuality of Matter: Material Imagination, Hapticity and Time (2012) 107
Eyes 108
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 108
Inseminations F 111
Fragile Architecture 111
Juhani Pallasmaa, ‘Hapticity and Time. Notes on Fragile Architecture’, in Id., Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 327–331 111
Forgetting 114
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 143–145 114
Fragments 116
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 116
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 117
Fusion of the Self and the World 117
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 117
Inseminations G 119
Generosity 119
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 119
Inseminations H 123
Hapticity 123
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 123
Hearth 124
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 148 124
Homelessness 124
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 125
Horizons of Meaning 126
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 126
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 127
Humility 127
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 127
Juhani Pallasmaa, Encounters, Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 333 128
Inseminations I 131
Ideal Client 131
Ideals 131
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 131
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 131
Identity 132
Newness, Tradition and Identity: Existential Content and Meaning in Architecture (2012) 132
The Existential Task of Architecture (2009) 133
Imaginary 134
Juhani Pallasmaa, Encounters, Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 89–90 134
Imperfection 135
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 135
Inseminations L 137
Language of Matter [The] 137
The Sensuality of Matter: Material Imagination, Hapticity and Time (2012) 137
Liberating Images vs Withering Images 138
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 138
Light 139
The Touch of Light: Materiality and Tactility of Illumination (2011) 140
Light and Shadow 140
Architectural Light 141
Contained Light, Liquified Light 142
Light and Colour 143
Black Light 143
Alienating Light 144
Limits 144
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009,
112–113 145
Limits and Immensity 146
Infinity and Limits: Infinitude, Eternity and Artistic Imagination (2017) 146
Lived Space 147
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 147
Inseminations M 151
Man 151
Architecture and the Human Nature: Searching for a Sustainable Metaphor (2011) 151
Matter and Time 152
Juhani Pallasmaa, ‘Matter and Time. Notes on Fragile Architecture’, in Id., Encounters, Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 323–324 153
The Language of Matter 154
Material Imagination 155
Meaning 156
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 156
Memory 157
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 157
Metaphor 158
Architecture and the Human Nature: Searching for a Sustainable Metaphor (2011) 158
Architecture and Image of Self 159
The Changing Metaphor 160
Microcosms 160
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 161
Modes of Thinking 161
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 161
Moving 162
Museums of Time 162
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 162
Myth 163
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 163
Inseminations N 165
Newness 165
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 165
Newness, Tradition and Identity: Existential Content and Meaning in Architecture (2012) 165
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 167
Nihilism 168
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 168
Nomadism and Mobility 168
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 168
Nostalgia 171
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 171
Nowness and Eternity 174
Infinity and Limits: Infinitude, Eternity and Artistic Imagination (2017) 174
Inseminations O 177
Odours in Architecture 177
The Veracity of Experience: Orchestrating Experience With Our Neglected Senses (2019) 177
Optimism 177
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 177
Inseminations P 179
Painter, Architect and Surgeon 179
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 179
Painting and Architecture 180
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 180
Perfection and Error 181
Juhani Pallasmaa, Encounters, Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 332–333 181
The Sensuality of Matter: Material Imagination, Hapticity and Time (2012) 182
Peripheral Vision 184
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 184
Space, Place and Atmosphere: Peripheral Perception and Emotion in Architectural Experience (2012) 184
Personality Cult 186
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 186
Phenomenology of Architecture 187
Juhani Pallasmaa, Encounters, Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 90–92 187
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 188
Philosophy in the Flesh 190
Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture (2009) 190
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 191
Physical and Mental Landscape 191
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 192
Playing with Forms 192
Juhani Pallasmaa, Encounters, Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 87–88 192
Present Tense of Art 193
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 193
Inseminations R 195
Rationalising Architecture 195
Between Art and Science: Reality and Experience in Architecture and Art (2018) 195
Realism and Idealization 197
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 197
Reality and Imagination 198
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 198
Reality vs Symbol 199
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 199
Reconciling 199
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 199
Relational Experiences 200
Architecture as Experience: Existential Meaning in Architecture (2018) 200
Reverse Interpretation 201
Landscapes of Architecture: Architecture and the Influence of Other Fields of Inquiry (2003/2010) 201
Roots and Biology 202
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 202
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 202
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 202
Ruins 203
The Sensuality of Matter: Material Imagination, Hapticity and Time (2012) 203
Inseminations S 205
Sacredness 205
Existential Sacredness: Light, Silence and Spirituality in Architecture (2012) 205
Senses I 207
Touching the World: Integration of the Senses and the Experience of Reality (2018) 207
Senses II. How many senses do we have? 208
The Veracity of Experience: Orchestrating Experience With Our Neglected Senses (2019) 208
Silence, Time and Solitude 210
Touching the World: Integration of the Senses and the Experience of Reality (2018) 210
Smells 211
The Veracity of Experience: Orchestrating Experience With Our Neglected Senses (2019) 211
Sound 212
Touching the World: Integration of the Senses and the Experience of Reality (2018) 212
Experiencing Space Existential Sacredness: Light, Silence and Spirituality in Architecture (2012) 213
Touching the World: Integration of the Senses and the Experience of Reality (2018) 213
Space and Imagination 214
Touching the World: Integration of the Senses and the Experience of Reality (2018) 214
Space-Time 215
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 215
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 216
Making the World: Space, Place and Time in Architecture: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2012) 216
Spatialized Memories 217
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 217
Speed 217
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 218
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 218
Existential Homelessness: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2006) 218
Speed and Time 218
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 218
Making the World: Space, Place and Time in Architecture: Placelessness and Nostalgia in the Age of Mobility (2012) 220
Stairways of Cinema 221
Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema (2008) 222
Sublime 223
Infinity and Limits: Infinitude, Eternity and Artistic Imagination (2017) 223
Spirituality in Architecture: Architecture, Art and Existential Sacredness (2011) 224
Infinity and Limits: Infinitude, Eternity and Artistic Imagination (2017) 224
Spirituality in Architecture: Architecture, Art and Existential Sacredness (2011) 225
Sustainability 225
The Existential Task of Architecture (2009) 225
Sustainablity and Identity 226
Symbol 226
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 227
Synaesthesia 227
The Veracity of Experience: Orchestrating Experience With Our Neglected Senses (2019) 228
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 228
The Veracity of Experience: Orchestrating Experience With Our Neglected Senses (2019) 228
Syncretic Imagination 230
Empathic Imagination: Embodied and Emotive Simulation in Architecture (2016) 230
Inseminations T 233
Tactility and Materiality of Light 233
The Sensuality of Matter: Material Imagination, Hapticity and Time (2012) 233
Tasks of Architecture [The] 237
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 237
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 238
Sarah Robinson, Juhani Pallasmaa, editors, Mind in Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the Future of Design, Cambridge, MA, and London: The MIT Press, 2007, 52–54 238
Tasks of Art [The] 240
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 240
Theorizing Architecture 241
Architecture as Experience: Existential Meaning in Architecture (2018) 241
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 243
Landscapes of Architecture: Architecture and the Influence of Other Fields of Inquiry (2003/2010) 244
Landscapes and Horizons of Architecture: Architecture and Artistic Thought (2007) 244
Thinking Hand [The] 245
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 91–95 245
Time 247
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 247
Time and Eternity 249
Embodied Experience and Sensory Thought: Lived Space in Art and Architecture (2006) 249
Touch 250
The Integrated Experience: Orchestrating Architecture Through Our Neglected Senses (2018) 250
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 251
Touching the World: Integration of the Senses and the Experience of Reality (2018) 251
Touching the World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 252
Tradition 252
Newness, Tradition and Identity: Existential Content and Meaning in Architecture (2012) 253
Architecture and Identity as Evolutionary Processes 254
Tradition and Innovation 256
The Ground of Culture 257
Selfhood, Memory and Imagination: Landscapes of Remembrance and Dream (2007) 258
Artistic Generosity, Humility and Expression: Reality Sense and Idealization in Architecture (2007) 259
Triad 259
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 145 259
Inseminations U 261
Uncertainty 261
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture, Oxford: Wiley & Sons, 2009, 109–112 261
Unfocused Vision 263
Touching The World: Lived Space, Vision and Hapticity (2007) 263
Inseminations V 265
Verbs vs Nouns 265
Juhani Pallasmaa, Encounters, Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2005, 326–327 265
Inseminations W 267
Water and Time 267
The Space of Time: Mental Time in Architecture (2007) 267
Inseminations: Seeds for Architectural Thought 269
Preamble 269
The Psychological Digging 270
The Approach: Jumps Vs Linear Thought 270
De-, Dis-, Ex- 274
Pallasmaa’s Reply to Our Proposal 276
Proposal 1. Tentative Titles: “Juhani Pallasmaa. Sketches of Thoughts” or “Juhani Pallasmaa’s Dictionary. A Book of Fragments”’ 276
Proposal 2. Juhani Pallasmaa. Collected Essays 277
Part 1. All About Pallasmaa 277
Part 2. Collected Essays 277
Part 3. Interpreting Architecture 277
Part 4. Bibliography 277
A Weak Structure: The Alphabetical Order 278
Literary References 281
What is the Book and How Should We “Use” It? 283
But What Do I Think About Pallasmaa’s Book? 284
Final Thoughts 286
Index 287
