Experiencing Architecture

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Steen Eiler Rasmussen

The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1964, 1962; originally published 1959 (in Danish), English

Nonfiction, Architecture

ISBN: 9780262680028

From the Publisher (2nd edition, 1964). Profusely illustrated with fine instances of architectural experimentation through the centuries, Experiencing Architecture manages to convey the intellectual excitement of superb design. From teacups, riding boots, golf balls, and underwater sculpture to the villas of Palladio and the fish-feeding pavilion of the Peking Winter Palace, the author ranges over the less-familiar byways of designing excellence.

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I first read this in the 1950s in Swedish and the central message stuck: Architecture (and therefore design as well) must evoke an experience physically and culturally beyond its core function. Hit a ball at a wall and sense the material and sound. Notice the light change as you meander through narrow asymmetrical paths between buildings, or the opening up of vistas as one surface ends and the new view becomes apparent. That, I believe, is Rassmussen’s continuing message.

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