Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment

(Paperback)

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Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment, the first publication of Henri Lefebvre's only book devoted to architecture, redefines architecture as a mode of imagination rather than a specialized process or a collection of monuments. Lefebvre calls for an architecture of jouissanceof pleasure or enjoymentcentered on the body and its rhythms and based on the possibilities of the senses.

Reviews

"Stanek's work has already taken scholarship on Henri Lefebvres concept of space to an unprecedented level of philosophical sophistication. With the discovery of this new text,Stanek escorts Lefebvre to the center of architecture theory since 1968. Lefebvres conceptual text and Staneks exquisite Introduction together enable the possibility of thinking not about architecture, but thinkingarchitecturallyabout how we inhabit our world.Toward an Architecture of Enjoymenttakes us toward a concept of the architectural imagination that is a powerful mediator between thought and action."K. Michael Hays, Harvard Graduate School of Design

"We finally have access to [Henri Lefebvres] most forceful meditation on the spatial utopia he aspired to. We owe the rescue and publication of this notable book to the perseverance and talent of ukasz Stanek, who wrote the volumes excellent and comprehensive introduction."Environment & Planning D: Society and Space

"A work that is profound, relevant, and important."Canadian Journal of Sociology

"This book, which focuses on architecture and redefines it. . . according to Lefebvre, architecture should work towards enjoyment and against aestheticism."Finnish Architectural Review

"Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment not only provides critical insight into Lefebvre, whose impact is still palpable, but reveals new connections between his ideas and design and, ultimately, capitalism and the built environment."Buildings & Landscapes

Author Bio

Henri Lefebvre (19011991) was a Marxist philosopher and sociologist. His many books includeThe Right to the City, The Production of Space, Everyday Life in the Modern World,andThe Urban Revolution(Minnesota, 2003).

ukasz Stanek is lecturer at the Manchester Architecture Centre, University of Manchester, and the author ofHenri Lefebvre on Space: Architecture, Urban Research, and the Production of Theory(Minnesota, 2011).
Robert Bononno, a teacher and translator, lives in New York City. His recent translations includeSpeech Begins after Deathby Michel Foucault (Minnesota, 2013) andCosmopolitics IandIIby Isabelle Stengers (Minnesota, 201011).