Through cross-disciplinary explorations of and engagements with nature as a forming part of architecture, this volume sheds light on the concepts of both nature and architecture. Nature is examined in a raw intermediary state, where it is noticeable as nature, despite, but at the same time through, man’s effort at creating form. This is done by approaching nature from the perspective of architecture, understood, not only as concrete buildings, but as a fundamental human way both of being in, and relating to, the world. Man finds and forms places where life may take place. Consequently, architecture may be understood as ranging from the simple mark on the ground and primitive enclosure, to the contemporary megalopolis. Nature inheres in many aesthetic forms of expression. In architecture, however, nature emerges with a particular power and clarity, which makes architecture a raw kind of art. Even though other forms of art, as well as aesthetic phenomena outside the arts, are addressed, the analogy to architecture will be evident and important. Thus, by using the concept of ’raw’ as a focal point, this book provides new approaches to architecture in a broad sense, as well as other aesthetic and artistic practices, and will be of interest to readers from different fields of the arts and humanities, spanning from philosophy and theology to history of art, architecture and music.

Nature inheres in many aesthetic forms of expression. In architecture, however, nature emerges with a particular power and clarity, which makes architecture a raw kind of art. Thus, by using the concept of 'raw' as a focal point, this book provides new approaches to architecture in a broad sense, as well as other aesthetic and artistic practices, and will be of interest to readers from different fields of the arts and humanities, spanning from philosophy and theology to history of art, architecture and music.

Proceedings of the 8th Annual ACSA (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) Conference held February 1990 at the U. of Southern California. Thirty-three contributions address issues connected with technology and the metropolis, society, aesthetics, drawing representation, the culture of modernity, architectural design, building construction, teaching, and the landscape. No index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

"In this study Shawn Thomson undertakes a consistent and deliberate approach to the form of the novel in an attempt to allow its elements, organization, and phenomena to answer questions about larger relationships and patterns. Thomson's approach asks: What is the position of the author in relation to the work, what in fact is a center of consciousness, and what is real in Moby-Dick?" "At the center of the approach is an examination of Ahab's enthusiasm and its parallels to Shelley's sense of the Promethean mission of the artist. Shelley exists as an animating presence, enlivening the fundamental oppositions of the novel: the vertical ascension of Ahab's drama and Ishmael's horizontal integration of feeling, thought, and experience." "Thomson explores Ahab's unyielding Romantic imagination - an imagination that will not be obstructed or overshadowed by the gross disorder and catastrophic face of nature. Ahab's passionate idealism is an extension of Shelley's powerful imagination, an obsessive energy that broadens and surpasses Classical and Christian idealism." "Thomson's line of inquiry places Shelley's Romantic ontology in the industrial world and hostile environment of Moby-Dick. Ishmael uses metaphor to create an emergent description of the world, building a knowledge of the whale and defining his perspective of the universe. Ahab shows the failings of inspiration. His being is associated with dominating towers, monumental heights of grandeur, and the mythmaking act. Thomson demonstrates how Melville tests and, ultimately, collapses Shelley's passionate idealism and constructs a new reality in its place." "Borrowing from Oliver Sacks, Shakespeare, Richard Wright, contemporary art criticism, geology, and geography, this study encompasses this eccentric American novel by building upon traditional approaches and bringing new perspectives into the discussion. Thomson blends science, aesthetics, and theory into an absorbing and full reading of Melville's art."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Toward synergy of civilizations.