The Architectural Uncanny: Essays in the Modern Unhomely

by Anthony Vidler

The Architectural Uncanny presents an engaging and original series of meditations on issues and figures that are at the heart of the most pressing debates surrounding architecture today. Anthony Vidler interprets contemporary buildings and projects in light of the resurgent interest in the uncanny as a metaphor for a fundamentally “unhomely” modern condition. The essays are at once historical and theoretical, opening up the complex and difficult relationships between politics, social thought, and architectural design in an era when the reality of homelessness and the idealism of the neo-avant-garde have never seemed so far apart.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Theory, Art, Essays, Philosophy, History

257 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 1992

About the author

Anthony Vidler (4 July 1941 – 19 October 2023) was an English architectural historian and critic. He was Professor at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union.

Reviews

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky to be reading this while I was working in Iceland, living near an abandoned village. The main theme is the psychology of a place, or house- and reminded me of the book Landscapes of Fear by Yi Fu Tuan. It's about feeling scared by buildings. New and old.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is both interesting and accessible. The first chapters relate to the more conventional history of the Uncanny, whilst the later chapters head into vagabond/cyborg territory, and the ‘uncanny’ nature of architecture becomes potentially more interesting, but also, perhaps, more tenuous.

There is a detailed chapter on Tschumi’s Parc de la Villette in Paris, (which is why I read the book), but overall many of the examples are philosophical, psychoanalytical, literary or art-based rather than specific architectural examples.

Lastly, the photos that were included were very evocative, but not entirely self-explanatory, a few more relating to the art and architecture he refers to would have been useful. Overall, a thought-provoking read.

[Tito Quiling, Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first and second sections are quite strong in emphasising forms and conditions of the "uncanny" in architectural spaces, but fails to be consistent in its themes in the third section, until the last chapter, which seems to recoil within discussions of anxiety rather than ending with the uncanny again. But there are very good literature on classic view of architectural spaces in philosophy, literary studies, and spatial studies that frame the analyses on how architecture can inject fear and dread.

[DoctorM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forget the first section--- the final two parts are well done: considerations of how architecture tries to evoke emotional states and how architecture has been done to create a sense of the "uncanny", to unsettle viewers and make them acknowledge social, political, and cultural contradictions. Good focus on the early work of Coop Himmelblau. Alas-- poorly illustrated, with little visual sense of what uncanny architecture looks like.

[Roberta · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book because I thought it was about architecture (The art and science of designing and erecting buildings.) There was a lot of philosophy and literature and a little psychology but I was hard pressed to find any architecture. There were very few illustrations and they were largely unrelated to the text.

[David Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vintage Vidler. Dense, perceptive and argued with vigor. For me, the emphasis on the psychological approach to knowing eclipsed other modes of knowledge. But, when you talk about the uncanny, I suppose you end up with Freud, and when you end up with Freud, it's gonna get all psychological.

[Isa · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant work, yet I forgot most of it...I guess I will have to re-read it...

[Natale Cozzolongo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prov

[Leonardo]

Discutido en Viviendo en el Final de los Tiempos Pág.287

[eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for the diss! quite an interesting take on the uncanny in buildings, spaces, places and during wwii (demolition, changing spaces and rebuilding)

[Billy Wallis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for incongruity. But an honourable five stars if you want to attribute it it. Proper architectural writing and an encompassing singular vision.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

delicious.