ARCHITECTURE FROM THE INSIDE OUT: FROM THE BODY, THE SENSES, THE SITE AND THE COMMUNITY

Architecture Inside Out is precisely what the title says - it tells us everything we need to know about the subject of Real Architecture'. For everyone (like me) who has been seeking the true explanation, this book is a must read. It should be required reading for all architecture and design students as well as for all those individuals who are responsible for making decisions that influence our built environment.Wayne Ruga, AIA, FIIDA, Hon. FASID, Founder, Symposium on Healthcare Design and The Center for Health Design Traditionally, men have been builders of the universe. This book gives a glimpse of what the world would be like if women took over more of this responsibility.Rather than thinking of architecture as an egotistical gesture involving form and facade, Franck and Lepori believe it should be more alive and take its character from the human body, which is a moving, animated structure that relies on its inner geography for optimum experience. When similarly designed from the inside out, rather than being austere and devoid of sensibilities, buildings would offer spatial sensations that connect with people, such as quality of light, comforting ambiance, joyful spirit and nurturing feelings of support. The new millennium deserves a dramatic revision in thinking away from convention into this new, emotionally-charged yet utterly convincing construct. Beverly Russell, Executive Director, Archeworks and author of Architecture & Design 1970 1990, Women of Design and 40 Under 40 Architecture Inside Out weaves together an impressive array of authors and architects - Paul Valery and Gottfried Semper, Balkrishna Doshi, Juhani Pallasmaa and Steven Holl among them - in vivid description of architectural experience. Extending the long-neglected thread of S.E. Rasmussen's classic Experiencing Architecture, the authors use such contemporary lenses as phenomenology and feminism to guide us on our journey through buildings.They trace the haptic qualities of architecture back through the design process with both daring and documentation. Their case studies of architecture's generation will inform teacher and student alike. Deborah Gans, Architect and Associate Professor, Pratt Institute Architecture Inside Out celebrates what the design of places and objects often neglects: the needs, activities and emotions of people and the possibilities for transformation in our ways of thinking and living. With the contemporary interest in architecture as idea and image, there has been a loss of attention to its content in both its materiality and its inhabitation. With the current relentless creation of financially profitable products, there is little care or time for process. The authors describe an alternative approach that attends to content and process, that places human life and experience as well as materiality at the centre of design, that seeks out opportunities for discovery, growth and transformation.Design is seen not as a project, imposing preconceived ideas upon a situation, but as a process, evolving from inside out: from the desires and activities of people, from site and context, and from a dialogue between architect and client. Examples from art, literature, biology and history, cases from architectural education and practice, and individual life experiences complement the book's strong conceptual framework. Karen A.Franck is an environmental psychologist who has taught for many years in a school of architecture in the US. R. Bianca Lepori is a practising architect in Italy with many years of experience in designing houses and maternity health care facilities.Together they draw upon their diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, moving easily from concept to example, from a descriptive voice to an experiential one, from one field to another, to present a vision of architecture they share.