Between 1935 and 1959; the architecture of childhood was at the centre of architectural discourse in a way that is unique in architectural history. Some of the seminal projects of the period; such as the Secondary Modern School at Hunstanton by Peter and Alison Smithson; Le Corbusierrsquo;s Uniteacute; drsquo;Habitation at Marseilles; or Aldo van Eyckrsquo;s playgrounds and orphanage; were designed for children; At CIAM; architects utilized photographs of children to present their visions for reconstruction. The unprecedented visibility of the child to architectural discourse during the period of reconstruction is the starting point for this interdisciplinary study of modern architecture under welfare state patronage. Focusing mainly on England; this book examines a series of innovative buildings and environments developed for children; such as the adventure playground; the Hertfordshire school; the reformed children hospital; Brutalist housing estates; and New Towns. It studies the methods employed by architects; child experts and policy makers to survey; assess and administer the physiological; emotional and developmental needs of the rsquo;userrsquo;; the child. It identifies the new aesthetic and spatial order permeating the environments of childhood; based on endowing children with the agency and autonomy to create a self-regulating social order out of their own free will; while rendering their interiority and sociability observable and governable. By inserting the architectural object within a broader social and political context; The Architectures of Childhood situates post-war architecture within the welfare statersquo;s project of governing the self; which most intensively targeted the citizen in the making; the children. Yet the emphasis on the utilization of architecture as an instrument of power does not reduce it into a mere document of social policy; as the author uncovers the surplus of meaning and richness of experience invested in these environments at the historical mom
#1734562 in eBooks 2016-05-03 2016-05-03File Name: B01CYV266I
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Not the Buddhas dharmaBy Joel RosenblumBought this book just because it was highly recommended. and I like to find clear expressions of the dharma so that I can suggest them to others.Unfortunately. what I found in this book was a bunch of wonderings from someone who has not apparently had much insight into dependent origination anatta. Mr. Genoud suffers even from the pre vs trans-egoic fallacy (which Ken Wilber loves to point out). almost equating the non-conceptuality of babies (as well as the Hopi tribe) with some type of awakened state. At one point. Mr. Genoud seems to deny the importance of Right View entirely. saying something like "what do we really know about awakening. anyway? How do we know that Christians dont awaken just as well as Buddhists?"The author was really into the whole non-conceptual thing. but that is a trap until you have right view. After all. right view is a conceptual device. It is the "raft" that leads to the "other shore" (nibbana). The other shore is not just non-conceptual. It is without center or background. no splitting of awareness from appearances. no more reifying process into objects. nor more subsuming all into one. as everything is disjoint yet infinitely interpenetrating.Instead of trying to generically "be here now" (which can be done while doing all kinds of unskillful things). try to realize that nobody is here in the great natural automatic perfection. Be here now in this effort to wake up from the delusion of identity.I am not affiliated with this blog. but I gained tremendous benefit from it. so let me just suggest that you google "Thusness six stages of awakening." and read the various important articles on the blog housing that very important article.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. absolutely beautiful. I hope someday to have the privilege of ...By GaneshaXabsolutely beautiful. I hope someday to have the privilege of studying with Charles Genoud. If I can ever must the money and the time I think it would be well worth it. This book is so beautifully written that I was actually moved to tears.14 of 15 people found the following review helpful. This moment. as is.By Constant readerCharles Genoud is my teacher and friend. so Im not an unbiased reviewer. On the other hand. having attended his retreats and workshops for a dozen years or so. Im in a position to attest that this book achieves something I thought was impossible: it catches on the printed page the flavor of Charless uncatchable work. The Gesture of Awareness exercises that Charles has developed elude description. not because theyre complex but because theyre so subversively simple. Every time you try to make something of them (some effort. some concept. some "special" experience). Charles pulls the rug out from under you once again. Suffice it to say that meditative and spiritual practices generally introduce the dimension of liberation first while doing the practice. with the eventual aim of transcending the practice so that liberation is present while youre doing nothing more cosmic than walking across the room. Charles takes you straight to that dimension while walking across the room.
