Chora 2: Intervals in the Philosophy of Architecture
Edited by Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Stephen Parcell
Montreal: Published for the History and Theory of Architecture Graduate Program, McGill University by McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996.
CHORA 2 continues to offer ample space to meditate on the possibility of an architecture capable of both respecting cultural differences and acknowledging the globalization of technological culture. The essays in this volume continue to operate from within the discipline of architecture, while furthering an interdisciplinary understanding. Karsten Harries provides a fresh and long-overdue reading of Heidegger's well-known essay, "Building Dwelling Thinking." Donald Kunze and Stephen Parcell consider possibilities of meaningful architectural space for a visual culture, continuing themes they addressed in CHORA 1. Further reflections on the spaces of literature, cinema, and architecture include an interview with French writer Alain Robbe-Grillet and articles by Dagmar Motycka Weston on the surrealist city, Tracey Eve Winton on the museum as a paradigmatic modern building, and Terrance Galvin on spiritual space in the works of Jean Cocteau. Jean-Pierre Chupin and Bram Ratner explore historical themes in their essays on French Renaissance architect Philibert de L'Orme and the Jewish myth of the Golem. Gregory Paul Caicco addresses ethical questions in his essay on the Greek agora and the death of Socrates, as does Lily Chi in her meditation on the critical issue of use in architectural works. A concern with architectural representation and generative strategies for the making of architecture is present throughout, especially in the essay by Joanna Merwood on the provocative House by British artist Rachel Whiteread.
Contents:
1. Socrates in the Agora by Gregory Paul Caicco
2 On the Use of Architecture: The Destination of Buildings Revisited by Lily H. Chi
3. Hermes' Laugh: Philibert de l'Orme's Imagery as a Case of Analogical Edification by Jean-Pierre Chupin
4. The Angel and the Mirror: Reflections on the Architecture of the Amalgam by Terrance Galvin
5. Lessons of a Dream by Karsten Harries
6. Architecture as a Site of Reception. Part II: Sea-Food and Vampires by Donald Kunze
7. Concrete Blonde: A Probe into Negative Space where Mysteries are Created by Joanna Merwood
8. Surrealist Paris: The Non-Perspectival Space of the Lived City by Dagmar Motycka Weston
9. The Metaphoric Architecture of the Diorama by Stephen Parcell
10. The Legend of the Golem by Bram Ratner
11. Paradoxical Spaces in Literature, Film and Architecture: A Dialogue with Alain Robbe-Grillet by Alain Robbe-Grillet/Alberto Pérez-Gómez
12. When the Old Mirror is not yet Polished, What Would You Say of it? By Tracey Eve Winton
