Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space

Writing Architecture #8

by GROSZ

Architecture from the Essays on Virtual and Real Space by Grosz, Eli...

Genres: Architecture, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory

Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven, but Grosz has got some gems in this short collection. "Embodying Space" is just great, and "Futures, Cities, Architecture" packs a punch in spite of its brevity. I find this to have some good thought pieces for students.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

The virtual - following Bergson and Deleuze - must not be seen as something non-existant, or even 'less real' - but an exteriority within the actual, an Outside, as the author coins it. In thinking of what the virtual is, we must investigate spatiality, perhaps we are forced to redefine it itself in light of virtual spaces. This is in part what Grossz sets out to do.

Grossz takes what is arguably a Deleuzian-Bergsonian-'Feminist Deconstruction' approach to critiquing the mainstream notion of Space and Time, to quite a fruitful harvest. The popular conception of VR is not a neutral space, an exterior with an unlimited amount of becomings. The notion of virtual space itself, for Grossz, has entered into popular consciousness in a male-dominated form, particularly in hedonist visions of potential futures.

Third paragraph, but I have yet to mention architecture, which this book seems to promise a great deal about. What gives? Well, Grossz is not an architect, nor does she claim to synthesize them; she explores the 'in-between,' like Plato's Chora in conception. She doesn't seek to 'force' elements from each onto each other, but simply point out some mutual flows and intensities.

The way she does this is how she explores the notion of Space; by exploring how virtual space has reconfigured the meaning of Space as we know it, architects can look at how they can rethink architecture. A room is constructed for the common activities that occur in it, by constructing a space for a different purpose, such as for bodies or better, by analyzing these activities and searching for a more creative layout, architecture can draw from the virtual.

Her architectural 'suggestions' are a little wanting, especially considering the Introduction seems to hype that up as an important polemic, however - this book is a highly engaging Deleuzean analysis of Space and Time, bodies, all that good late 90's/2000's structuralist stuff.

[Xeena Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Grosz talks about how architecture and the spaces we experience are connected.
It challenges the usual ideas about architecture and looks at how digital spaces and technology affect our understanding of buildings. The author uses different fields to explain these ideas in a way that's easy to understand. It makes you think about how architecture shapes our lives and how we interact with our surroundings.
I really liked how the author examines how buildings treat men and women differently. They study how the design and layout of a building can affect how people interact and if it treats everyone fairly. By using these ideas from feminism, the author helps us understand how architecture is connected to fairness in society.

[Kathleen Quaintance · Rating 5 out of 5]

insanely good theory: lucid but complex, malleable but powerful, above all generative...elizabeth grosz does it again

[Ariana Ibañez · Rating 5 out of 5]

tqm elizabeth

[mahatmanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

ini kumpulan esai yang keren.
sebagai perempuan, ia merasa leluasa bergerak "di luar" arsitektur mapun filsafat, dua disiplin yang menurutnya terlalu didominasi pria.
belum semua terbaca, baru bab pertama yang berupa wawancara dengannya EMBODYING SPACE.
dalam wawancara itu ia bilang bahwa arsitektur adalah disiplin yang selalu membutuhkan komentar orang luar tentang dirinya.
hehe...
bener jugak!
ntar sambung lagi aah...
[eh, ini bukan preview lho]

[Jes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Grosz just hits all my theory kinks.