Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture

This new edition of the A+U 1994 special issue 'Questions of Perception' brings back one of the most important treatises on architectural theory in recent years. Authored by noted architectural scholars, Steven Holl, Alberto Pérez-Gómez, and Juhani Pallasmaa, the three separate essays are thematically linked: each one tries to explain the role that human perception and phenomenological experience play in architecture. In particular, Holl lucidly explains the importance of intuition in the construction and experience of built space. In a new introduction, Holl reflects upon the resonance of the book, his writings, and work over the years. The authors explain their goal thus: "Unlike the critic and philosopher, the architect must embrace the contradictions between perception and logic, the slippage between architectural intention and realization, and the unpredictability of the future's judgment upon the acting present ..." This book represents a humble attempt to articulate words and images with this generative intention in mind. In their original introduction, the authors also write: "The endless cultural limitations and contradictions inherent in artistic work, revealed with impeccable clarity and logic by the critics' deconstructive theory, are ultimately of limited use for the generation of architecture. The architect must take a position, one that necessarily has ethical consequences, and for which words, i.e., a theoretical discourse, is nevertheless indispensable."