Thinking Hand

Informationen zum Autor Juhani Pallasmaa is one of Finland's most distinguished architects and architectural thinkers. His previous positions include: Rector of the Institute of Industrial Arts, Helsinki; Director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki; and Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Helsinki University of Technology. He has also held visiting professorships in several universities internationally. Pallasmaa is the author/editor of 24 books, including The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses (Academy, 1995 and John Wiley & Sons, 2005), The Architecture of Image: Existential Space in Cinema (Helsinki, 2001) and Encounters (Helsinki, 2005). Klappentext In our current global networked culture that puts so much emphasis on the virtual and the visual, the mind and the body have become detached and ultimately disconnected. Though physical appearance is idolised for its sexual appeal and its social identity, the role of the body in developing a full understanding of the physical world and the human condition has become neglected. The potential of the human body as a knowing entity - with all our senses as well as our entire bodily functions being structured to produce and maintain silent knowledge together - fails to be recognised. It is only through the unity of mind and body that craftsmanship and artistic work can be fully realised. Even those endeavours that are generally regarded as solely intellectual, such as writing and thinking, depend on this union of mental and manual skills. In The Thinking Hand , Juhani Pallasmaa reveals the miraculous potential of the human hand. He shows how the pencil in the hand of the artist or architect becomes the bridge between the imagining mind and the emerging image. The book surveys the multiple essences of the hand, its biological evolution and its role in the shaping of culture, highlighting how the hand-tool union and eye-hand-mind fusion are essential for dexterity and how ultimately the body and the senses play a crucial role in memory and creative work. Pallasmaa here continues the exploration begun in his classic work The Eyes of the Skin by further investigating the interplay of emotion and imagination, intelligence and making, theory and life, once again redefining the task of art and architecture through well-grounded human truths. Zusammenfassung In this book Pallasmaa progresses his case for a multi-sensory approach to architecture! espoused in The Eyes of the Skin ! by taking a wider view of the role of embodiment in human existential reactions! experiences and expressions as well as the processes of making and thinking. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction: Embodied Existence and Sensory Thought 010 Chapter One: The Mysterious Hand 024 The Multiple Essences of the Hand What is the Hand? Hand, Eye, Brain and Language Hand as Symbol Gestures of the Hand Languages of the Hand Chapter Two: The Working Hand 046 The Hand and the Tool The Hand of the Craftsman Collaborative Craftsmanship Architecture as Workmanship Chapter Three: Eye-Hand-Mind Fusion 070 Experimentation and the Art of Play Skill and Boredom Eye, Hand and Mind Chapter Four: The Drawing Hand 088 Drawing and the Self Tactility of Drawing The Computerised Hand Primacy of Touch: Hapticity of Self-image Unconscious Touch in Artistic Experience Chapter Five: Embodied Thinking 106 Creative Fusion The Work of Thinking: The Value of Uncertainty Resistance, Tradition and Freedom Thinking Through the Senses Embodied Memory and Thought Existential Knowledge Chapter Six: Body, Self and Mind 122 The Body as Site The World and the S...

List of contents

Introduction: Embodied Existence and Sensory Thought 010
Chapter One: The Mysterious Hand 024
The Multiple Essences of the Hand
What is the Hand?
Hand, Eye, Brain and Language
Hand as Symbol
Gestures of the Hand
Languages of the Hand
Chapter Two: The Working Hand 046
The Hand and the Tool
The Hand of the Craftsman
Collaborative Craftsmanship
Architecture as Workmanship
Chapter Three: Eye-Hand-Mind Fusion 070
Experimentation and the Art of Play
Skill and Boredom
Eye, Hand and Mind
Chapter Four: The Drawing Hand 088
Drawing and the Self
Tactility of Drawing
The Computerised Hand
Primacy of Touch: Hapticity of Self-image
Unconscious Touch in Artistic Experience
Chapter Five: Embodied Thinking 106
Creative Fusion
The Work of Thinking: The Value of Uncertainty
Resistance, Tradition and Freedom
Thinking Through the Senses
Embodied Memory and Thought
Existential Knowledge
Chapter Six: Body, Self and Mind 122
The Body as Site
The World and the Self
The World and the Mind
Existential Space in Art
Chapter Seven: Emotion and Imagination 130
Reality of Imagination
The Gift of Imagination
Reality of Art
Art and Emotion
Artistic Experience as Exchange
Chapter Eight: Theory and Life 140
Theory and Making
Opposition of Theory and Making
Architecture as Image of Life
The Task of Art
Index 153
Photo credits 159

Product details

• Authors: J. Pallasmaa, Juhani Pallasmaa, Juhani (Arkkitehtitoimisto Juhani Pallasmaa KY Pallasmaa, Pallasmaa Juhani
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 03.04.2009
• EAN: 9780470779293
• ISBN: 978-0-470-77929-3
• No. of pages: 160
• Dimensions: 170 mm x 220 mm x 10 mm
• Series: Architectural Design Primer; Architectural Design Primer
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Architecture; Architecture, ARCHITECTURE / General, Theory of architecture